Out of curiosity…
The people I play masks with split into 2 camps.
Camp 1: Masks is a perfect rpg and can not be improved in any way.
Camp 2: Masks is a frame work for an rpg and needs lots of house rules and tweaks to be really playable.
So which camp do you all fall into? Or are you in some forbidden third camp?
Less hyperbolic, but still basically camp 1.
I wonder if the split lies along people viewing the game as a game about teenagers who are also superheroes, versus people viewing the game as being about superheroes, who are also teenagers.
Camp 1, though I would say, “Mostly perfect,” rather than unable to be improved.
I guess camp 2, but I’m picky. Masks plays great, and I love the way that the playbooks let the players get right into the game and focus on relevant drama, but I find that as GM, I sort of need to have a sort of personal behind-the-scenes “meta system” for what the heroes’ abilities can actually accomplish and when rolling is required.
I think it doesn”t need a lot of houerules, just a master that knows when to make his moves.
AD Kohler Do you mean with regard to use of Unleash & Directly Engage vs just having them succeed?
I tend to make them roll when there is a possibility of something changing with a miss or partial hit. My group and I tend to keep from focusing on actual power limits. Even in the comics that can be a moving goal post based on who the writer is and what they want to do in the story, so we solve that by focusing more on the story itself and what they want to accomplish. If I see the possibility of something juicy should they not roll a 10+ I’ll have them roll. If the outcome will just be boring regardless of their failure or success, I hand them the success.
I find that too binary. Every RPG can be improved with house rules; in fact, just about every RPG depends on the GM being able to make on-the-spot decisions for those situations the system didn’t cover.
That doesn’t make Masks unplayable without them, though, at least in my experience.
I’ve been in camp 2 since the late 70’s. 🙂
I fall between the two I think, but more towards camp 2.
Masks is a really great game for aiming you at the drama of being a teenager. It’s moves and mechanics evoke exactly the genre it wants to generate.
That said, when it comes to being a solid rpg, there are lots of little holes and loops you can fall into. The Influence mechanics can be triggered an absurd number of times, so much so that it requires labels to keep being shifted ad nauseam, sometimes without adequate fiction.
The majority of the Team Moves are kind of a mess, and sometimes when it feels like you’re sharing a weakness or vulnerability, you look at your playbook’s trigger and discover that what it wants you to do doesn’t make any sense in the fiction.
Joshua R. Leuthold You only roll the dice when you want to resolve what happens, but that decision in itself is a consequence of “the fiction”. When the beacon is facing a threat “only the Nova can face”, you wouldn’t even bother to roll and see if his arrow has any effect on “notThanos” (or whatever). But there’s a lot a gray area. The outsider is “tough”, but how much more does the legacy’s invulnerability count for? If a player wants to play a character with a certain powers, I think it’s incumbent on me to invoke the moves in a fashion that is consistent and makes sense. And for me to feel comfortable doing so, I have sort of a “back of my mind” scale of character power that I use when deciding when rolls are warranted.
What house rules and tweaks do your players think it needs to be playable?
Masks is a solid RPG with mechanics geared to push it in a very, very specific direction. That thing, it does well.
Camp 2, agreeing a lot with Blaze
Perfect.
Some people want it to be a game about superheroes and are frustrated with it. Some people see it as the young adult drama it is and love it.
Troy Ray
Well I would say the most agreed upon point of contention is the conditions. The limited 5 make it difficult to be in character some times when you have to roleplay “I was thrown into a wall so now i’m angry. But I was then hit with a car so now im… hopeless? and then they threw a fireball at me so now im…guillty.”
It is argued to be far to limiting for the numerous different circumstances that can occur. Half my group would much rather conditions be stack-able so they could just get More angry, or More depressed rather than have to explain how the previous action caused the previous emotion.
Camp 1: says you are just not being creative enough.
Camp 2: says this is forcing the story in unnecessary stupid directions.
Lex Permann To play devils advocate because I am interested. Is the game not about super heroes? If you say the idea is to ignore that part of it, then shouldn’t the book have been sold as a high-school drama rpg? There are many other games that sell themselves as such. Or just a teenage drama rpg and leave it open to whatever theme you wish to place upon it?
I definitely fall in camp 1.5 .
1. Masks is a great RPG as is, and doesn’t need any extra work or rules.
2. It’s great to add house rules to extend the game to improve something, if that’s what you want to do
No such thing as a perfect game.
That said, it does what it aims to do. And playing it “as written” is great.
That that being said ( 😉 ) I haven’t encountered any game that after playing it “as written” as a start, I didn’t tried to tweak.
Zylo The Conditions sort of describe your Pcs inner life, not what they present to the world. For example, no matter what Condition my Bull is afflicted with, she appears angry. The Doomed might always behave as if she is Hopeless. The Nova might always seem Guilty. You don’t have to change how you role play when you take Conditions unless you’re trying to action to clear the Condition with your actions.
Zylo i mean, teen superheroes is a very specific and well-established subgenre: New Mutants, Teen Titans, Young Avengers, Runawayas, but also stuff like Young Justice on TV (and CW Flash, at least season 1, draws a lot on it). The game is super clear about the fact that its source of inspiration is that and not, say, Avengers or JLA or Green Lantern.
There’s so much diversity in superhero comics that for games, i definitely like the approach picking one specific style or subgenre and focusing on capturing its specific vibe and tropes. And again, Masks does that very specifically, and very well; it’s not “mean girls” high school teen drama, it’s miles away from Monsterhearts & other supernatural romance, etc. Superheroic themes are at its core – but filtered through the teen, coming of age angle.
For the conditions issue, if you’re interested in my take: follow, but also prepare, the fiction. As an MC, if your villain is inflicting a blow, think about what condition you’re aiming at. And in general… Conditions are not HP. They’re not a consequence of physical damage. In most superhero media – especially in teen super ones – characters can, and routinely do, take a lot of punishment; what really gets at them is not the punches and fireballs, it’s all the rest. So (to fish from the last game i GMd) i don’t usually do “the Anarch swats you away with a blast of his chaos force”, but something like “the Anarch swats you away with a blast of his chaos force, then looks at you with disdain: ‘these people are harassing and detaining young supers like you, and instrad of stopping them you protect them and stand in my way?'” – this way, you make it personal and emotional.
Alberto Muti
Fair enough, but to play devils advocate again. Can you really make every villain an emotionally impacting one that tests the heroes? Not every episode of teen titans was an emotional revelation. Sometimes they were just being super heroes. Sometimes they just had fights and sometimes the goal was not to reveal the inner most demons and it was just to save the day heroically. If all you do is target the teens coming of age, and not the super heroics are you not just playing a soap opera?
Jim Crocker There are many reasons to continue discussing things even if you do not believe in them other than to be mean. I do not think any question I have asked has been mean spirited or overly negative, only inquisitive.
And I love masks to bits actually.
I am simply parroting the arguments that happen in my group in an attempt to understand both sides as well as hear others opinions.
Zylo I don’t know if I agree that every episode of Teen Titans isn’t an emotional revelation. Sure, they beat the villains and save the day, but it always ultimately shapes who they are. In this specific example, Robin and Raven always have emotions riding high. Starfire is always influenced by what’s going on and how she fits in. Cyborg and Beast Boy appear to be the least moved but their dramas are the dramas of brothers who love each other and fight over silly things. And sometimes they take that with them into the fight. The first episode is like that, right?
The thing about teenagers is they are not always in control of how they feel and the game is designed to emulate that sort of drama. My thoughts are that regardless of how you feel, you can role play your character appropriately. Anger is a superficial emotion. People get angry because they are really feeling something else. Young Justice Superboy is always Angry because he feels a lot of things and doesn’t know how to feel about a lot of things.
Does that make sense?
I am experimenting with using city of mist conditions for masks- using condition tags that effect moves in specific ways depending on the type of condition imposed- it’s worked well for our heroes. I use the role playing moves as a way to clear conditions. Also, I do stack conditions to make them easier or more difficult to clear by giving out multiple condition cards. I use emotional states as a part of those conditions, but not limited by the original 5.
Also, for villains I don’t do emotional states, I use status types to explain what weaknesses the villain has so the heroes can exploit them. It’s resulted in some of the most fun play yet in my game.