Just wanted to share some of my homebrew moves for my PBP campaign I am on running on the Sufficient Velocity forums, Night City Heights (It takes place in a Gotham Analogue to Halcyon Cities Metropolis), any feedback would be accepted, I haven’t gotten around to the first combat phase yet, so they are untested. This is my first campaign running a Masks RPG, and I’m really liking the system so far!
=STAND STRONG WHILE DRAMATICALLY UNDER FIRE=
You’re taking hits! Evasive maneuvers! I will occasionally call on you to act under fire whenever your current action is taking place when you under extreme duress-like a powerful blow, but much less likely to down you. Also a lot more common-even enemies that can’t hurt you normally, can get lucky if there is enough of them.
When you are acting under fire, roll + conditions marked, – your Danger label. On a 10+, choose one.
• you immediately take a powerful blow!
• two options from the 7-9
On a 7-9, choose one.
• you disadvantage your teammates somehow in your panic to avoid injury, perhaps inadvertently-choose a teammate, they gain -1 to their next roll.
• you take the hits, but keep going: Take -3 to your next roll.
• you bear the pain: mark a condition.
On a miss, you duck and weave perfectly. Mark potential as normal, and say how you avoided being injured.
((Essentially I wanted a less deadly version of ‘Take a powerful blow’-for when a Hero is more actively avoiding things that can hurt or hinder them, than taking a hit on the chin-like trying to move under a hail of machine gun fire. Honestly, I wasn’t sure as a newbie GM how to make sure my Beacon player got value from his move ‘Suck it Domitian’ without being pounded into a crater every encounter, so I essentially added the effect in the description as an actual move.))
=POWERING UP=
Sometime including a lot of yelling, floating rocks, and a generous amount of screen time-a character powering up is gathering all their strength for a heroic effort, either through gathering energy or sheer willpower. They are vulnerable during this time however.
When you are powering up, roll +Freak. On a hit…
• Your next turns roll for directly engaging will always score an extra success, even if you miss-add this onto any successes you get normally. You are far less likely to sustain damage while trading blows if you are powered up and they are not, though common sense does apply. Collateral damage and unintended effects will be much more dramatic.
• For the next turn only you can choose to use the Adult move ‘wield your powers’. If you already have this move, add an extra success onto the result of your roll.
On a miss, your efforts backfire and you end up worse than before. Indicate in specific detail how many square miles of Night City you have just destroyed.
You only power up once a phase, and afterwards, you may be unable to power up until some time has passed or you recharge yourself somehow.
((Since I run things in distinct turn phases, I added this. I like the flavor of a distinct risk+reward move that can go very good…or very bad. ))
=THE FUTURE IS WORTH THE FIGHT=
In a display of super-heroic leadership, you inspire your allies, intimidate your opponents, give solid commands, or otherwise attempt to guide your team to victory with an impassioned speech.
When you use this move, roll + Savior. On a hit…
• For that turn, all your allies can choose to use your Savior label to roll for any move in place of whatever they would normally roll. They temporarily ignore all penalties from their conditions.
• On this turn and the next one, you decide on your teams big plan and the goal you wish to achieve-any team spent from the pool for team moves is automatically refunded if the overall action you plan for your team is a success.
• All allies and yourself can choose to clear a single condition.
• For this turn you can take an extra action-you can only choose to use the Adult move ‘Stand up for Something’. If you already have this move, add an extra success onto the result of your roll.
You only get one big speech per phase, and may have to wait some time before you gain the courage to try something like again. Not limited to the leader of the group, but only one sort of this action can take place during a phase. Who wants the spotlight?
On a miss, you suffer no other penalty, except looking a little foolish-but maybe your words will still strike hard, despite you not putting it the best way.
((The same as the last, I wanted something extra for Savior-it also gives my players incentives for big Heroic speeches!))
Does anyone else use homebrew moves in their campaigns?
The first one, isn’t clear. “I will ocassionally call…” is not a trigger. Triggers are so that players know when they trigger. Also note that all the other PbtA games with Act under Fire have the character gain something. It’s their fallback move.
The second one is basically what a Nova does, thematically. If you don’t want a Nova in your game, go for it, otherwise I wouldn’t recommend it.
The third one is super powerful. I’m not sure what a phase is meant to be. But stuff like that seems like a Moment of Truth.
Clarification-I run a PBP game, not a table game, so I had to modify the rules some. Mostly, players can act/roll once a turn, distinct phases to outline the narrative (only an action/combat phase would have turns, for example-when they finish they might go into a scene phase, which is for RP/passing time, or a movement phase, which is a branch where a decision has to be made-I designed it like a comic book would be), and every turn they might have to take a powerful blow or stand strong alongside their action, which I would call upon them to do so. I really only have D&D experience in running games and it shows.
As for the other one, it might be too powerful, but my game doesn’t have a nova really. Also my players caused mass devastation in their opening fight so I assume they liked causing collateral damage.
And I was confused on how moments of truth actually work, and wanted to add a general tool for the team leader to you know, team lead.
At worst I might have to tone them down til ‘time passes’ cooldown, but I like them.
Don’t use the first one, just have them take a powerful blow if they need to, or Defend themselves if they must. Don’t use the second one, just play a Nova. Don’t use the third one, just use Influence and the “Support” part of Comfort/Support.
“On a miss, you suffer no other penalty, except looking a little foolish-but maybe …”
These moves seem very wishy washy.
This community is brutal. XD
I dunno, we’re critiquing the work, not the person.
I actually think they’re a really interesting set of modifications. I do think the second one steps on Nova a bit, but if you don’t have one in your game, who cares? And the third one might be better as a playbook move you can buy for Legacy than a general move, but if it’s working for you, good for you.
The first one, given the mods you made for PBP, is actually a great move that I really like. It’s clever, it’s effective and it gets the job done. Honestly, my only concern would be it upping the speed at which people gain potential, but for a PBP game that’s definitely not an issue either.
Neat design! Not for everyone, but I like it.