With some help from the player I made it for and the rest of my table, I think this is in a good enough shape to share. The Persona. A Playbook no one asked (someone..did but ya know) but I made anyway.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jUPDtR_9bEVRPVCNgv8t8WVWAFccx7WPjZZk6nAdbUk/edit?usp=sharing
It’s certainly a mechanical monstrosity but I feel it’s fairly…balanced.
Funny
This is a lot more interesting than a lot of other “combine two” playbooks. Here are my thoughts:
1. Get the Janus off this playbook. In fact if this playbook is in the mix, don’t let the Janus in the game. The thematic overlap is too much.
2. Alternately, it seems like this could be another axis of responsibility for the Janus. Instead of a standalone playbook (“Don’t write playbooks.” – JDCorley on every PBTA game forum) you could do a revised version of the Janus that has Persona responsibilities instead of mundane responsibilities, and have it run off Freak or Superior depending on how people are approaching it. This has the advantage of already having a lot of “changing identity” moves built in.
When I think of a superhero taking on another identity, I typically think of the Robin and Red-X story from Teen Titans. Unfortunately, The Persona playbook doesn’t capture this concept very well. Which is a shame because I believe this playbook is really trying to capture that kind of story.
The Persona features a very different conflict from what you could call its ‘sister’ playbook, The Janus. A Janus’ core story is about trying to figure out whether they are truly their Mask or their Civilian identity, and perhaps discovering along the way that they’re actually a third person they hadn’t considered who is a mix of both. The Persona, on the other hand, knows exactly who they are, but also knows that there is a need for them to be someone different, because there are just some things that their Base self isn’t capable of doing.
Robin isn’t a criminal, or a villain, or even a bad person. But in the Red-X story, he wants so badly to take down Slade, that he’s willing to go against himself. He steals, lies, betrays/hurts his friends, and makes the Red-X suit with the dangerous and illegal Xenothium. All just so he can get closer to Slade. In other words, the ‘ends justify the means’.
For starters, I wish The Persona was more focused on this kind of story, to the point of their Persona always being a villain or severe anti-hero identity.
Next, it’s pretty telling how betrayed the Teen Titans felt in the Red-X story. They knew Robin as their honest leader, and suddenly they discovered a whole new side of him. There were harsh consequences, Robin lost their trust, and I wish this was reflected in the playbook. Unlike the Janus, who is encouraged to reveal their identity, and rewarded for doing so; the Persona should be encouraged to keep it hidden, rewarding them for doing so, and to the point of punishing them if they are found out.
This would be a good backstory question, “What kind of terrible consequences will there be if you’re discovered to be the same person as your Persona?”
I’m also of the mind that the Persona should mostly work in the ‘gutters’. Where instead of the player directly acting as the Persona, they announce things that the Persona has already done or will do. So that, in the actual gameplay, it really does seem like the Base and Persona are two separate people, with only little hints linking them together. And then, when the Persona themselves actually appears in a scene, there’s a lot more punch to it.
An example, “When entering a scene, you can declare that your Persona was here earlier. Roll +your Persona’s label. On a 10+, Name a nefarious thing they did that makes something you’re doing now easier, take +1 forward. On a 7-9…”
Food for thought. There really should be an element of betrayal of trust to all this. With perhaps moves like the Delinquent’s “Team? What Team?” move. It’d also be very interesting for the character to be able to take advantage of their Influences without actually surrendering said Influence, as long as they are in their Persona identity.
Andrew Taylor another playbook to work for… 🙂
All great suggestions. I’ve made some fairly large edits to how the Persona works and have some GM/creator thoughts at the bottom page. Let me know what you think.
drive.google.com – AlterEgo.pptx it functions ? I try to write-in some suggestions from Andrew Taylor…
Kalu Deliko Man….that’s…why would you change playbooks if your Label goes up or down past its threshold? Labels are meant to shift. Can others shift it?
The Moves are all about your Alter Ego. There’s a fairly consistent build philosophy you can glean from the other Playbooks in print in that a Playbook (generally) has two moves that deal with the party. Two that deal with you and your place in the world and two that deal with your playbook specifically. It’s not a hard and fast but I find it really helpful to think along those lines.
Also, and this is just a formatting thing, moves are listed with the miss first, the 7-9 hit next and then the 10+. You’ve got it reversed and that’s weird.
That Bastard! is cute, it could work in some narrative senses but the things it gives you is crazy. Taking Potential as a base move? On a 7-9? Power Leveling much? Marking Potential on a Miss? Really? And just shifting labels? Every move seems to shift your Label for Alter Ego. Why? Why do you need that?
There is nothing Bad Ass about Bad Ass Power. It’s a giant, screaming liability, no one would take it. It actively hurts you if you spend Hold so why would you spend it? Nothing is forcing you to spend it so it’s just a waste. And you have to use it, if you take it and you just wouldn’t, every time you use your Alter Ego? Why are you punishing people for using their Alter Ego? That’s the whole playbook. You can spend one to…take a Hard Move. Pass. Inflict a Condition (that is a hard move) so pass. Lose a Team from the Pool for no reason. HARD PASS. Oh. Lose all the Influences you have on the team. What? Who would pick any of this? My, goodness. Oh and hey, shift Alter Ego. Because why not.
Leave the Veil is literally every other move but worse by merit of being just a label shift.
Raise the Veil….just take Influence over someone! When the going gets tough, make a friend! So your rolls are better! This move isn’t even short sighted. It’s blind to the mechanics.
You Know Nothing about Me is just a better (and worse!) version of I Don’t Care What you Think. Because at least that’s just a flat bonus that offsets a Condition at worst and at best is the only stand out thing about the Delinquent. But it’s worse than that because with all the Label Shifting (ignoring that you’re not going to be playing this Playbook for very long) it hurts you.
Why do you hate the players so much man? This Playbook is like strapping razorblades to the inside of your pants.
It’s not Me is…hideously overpowered and all over the place. Unlocking your Moment of Truth on a 10+, marking a Condition on a 7-9 but not on a 1-6 which is a miss? There’s so much shifting of your Label that just on a cursory glance you’re going to hit a -3 or -4 rather swiftly. Why are you trying to punish the player for being in their Alter Ego when that’s literally what the Playbook is all about?
I hate to speak well of my own things but this is honestly just an anemic hack of the Persona in all ways, shapes and forms. The trouble doesn’t stop there though.
Why, as an Advance, would you get a Sanctuary? Is that just a formatting thing because you’re using the Template you made for the Relic Playbook I shared?
I do see one idea worth cribbing. The When the Team Came Together question. It needs some work because WTCT always bring the whole Team in. Something like “We discovered something that incriminated my Persona. How do they feel about him and how did I distance myself from the evidence?” I like that honestly. It also does make me consider that maybe the powers being separate isn’t a fun mechanic and there should be some actual mechanics for being discovered and the consequences of that.
830toAwesome I totally agree with you. So it’s an open file, for you in a format similar to a Playbook, change it in the way you want and then send it to us a ChristMask Present.
This seems a little more like something you could use in a solo game of Masks than a team game. One character juggling two superhero identities is a cool high concept, but for a solo book, not a team series.
830toAwesome It’s looking a lot better! Nice work.
Andrew Taylor Thanks!
I took to heart a great deal of suggestions, mostly from the Masks Discord. The Token system has been dropped (I have ideas to roll this into the Moves however I don’t have the time to work on those outside of some names) and while I dislike the idea of cribbing from the Doomed for a mechanic I do like the idea of cribbing from the Beacon for a similar mechanic to their Drives.
I call this “Darkness” and it’s flavored some of the Playbook further.
Unlike Drives there is a tier system meant to show that you’re progressing down into worse and worse actions as you pursue your goals.
I haven’t filled them all in but I’d really like some suggestions if people think this is a better route to take.
I also don’t want to work on moves yet since Moves often play off Mechanics.
And if the Darkness Mechanic needs work, then moves based around it will as well.
I think over all this is a better Playbook than when it began today. Thank you all for the feedback and I hope you feel invigorated to give more.
Darkness…sounds good!
I’ve added Moves and streamlined the Playbook some more. I’d love more feedback.
Spent the morning looking over The Persona to give you more feedback 🙂
Right off the bat, there should definitely be a second costume option under looks, so that you can define what your Alias looks like. Maybe the simplest way is to change ‘costume’ to ‘costumes’? So if you choose simple costumes, it means that both your Hero and Alias identities wear a simple uniform.
Next, under Identity, I think it would be great if the Labels were freed up. ‘Pick a Label’ instead of ‘choose X or Y’. Imagine the spunky kid acrobat (Freak) becoming a piercing and manipulative mob boss-like figure by night (Mundane).
Abilities… I like the selection, and Pick 2 is fine. But I wish the Alias ability was something that could only be used while you’re in that identity (changing somehow activates it; maybe its gear you put on, a ritual, a certain mindset you adopt, etc.), and better, if it was described as being powerful, but forbidden and/or dangerous. Maybe even adding mechanical benefits and penalties to this ability, so using it has extra punch, while giving solid reason for The Persona to change into their Alias identity during play.
‘Darkness’ is pretty neat. I like the idea of The Persona’s objectives having a mechanical presence, and I think it’s important that they are, but I also think that there are better ways to implement this. As it stands, it feels bloated, and too dependent on the player to make it work. For instance, having a player come up with five solid ‘objectives’ during CC is a little much. Also! ‘If a Teammate discovers…’ is weird, as it essentially tells another player what to do and think; don’t do that. Even ‘When someone close to you…’ isn’t great, for the reason that it could potentially affect a PC and double up on the former ‘If a Teammate’.
Moves… I really wish they were more about doing things that your other identity can’t do! The two big themes of the playbook are ‘doing bad things for a good cause’ and ‘becoming someone else to do things you normally can’t/won’t do’.
– Devil or Angel on the Shoulder. It’s kinda silly. I get it though. I doubt it’d see much use in game.
– Disguised as Another Dude. I feel like identity defense against Pierce should be more built-in. But also, what’s the point of a lie or mislead? Pierces tend to be asked and answered OOCly, as the move specifically defines asking the player, instead of one character to another. Since it’s all meta to begin with, and the other player knows that the Persona player is lying to them, eh… There’s no reason for the player to believe it or take it to heart. It’d be better if it was just a straight up negation effect, where The Persona player can declare that they won’t answer a question.
– Those Who Fight Monsters. I like the Team part of this, as I think The Persona should do well in PvP, but I don’t like the imperiling civilians part of this. It’s just a bit too callous, and makes them out as a bully. I think it’d be great if it was more like The Transformed’s moves.
– Long Shadow. Very nice! I’m glad you used my suggestion 🙂 However, I don’t like the trigger for it, “When you encounter a prominent location frequented…”. I think it’s too specific for it to show up in play much.
– Well-known but Not Well-funded & Twilight Emissary. Hmm 🙁 Isn’t a theme of the playbook that the Hero needs to become the Persona, because the Hero just isn’t enough to do what needs to be done? That they’re setting out on their own and not even trusting their friends and loved ones with their plans? These two moves are specifically about getting help, which I think runs counter to the whole ‘lone wolf-ing it’ aspect of The Persona. What’s more, the former move, I think, focuses too much on the Hero side of things.
When we first came together… Could be better. I wish that the Alias was created after the Team came together, so that The Persona has solid reasons to hide it from the Team as well. At the very least, it could be more along the lines of, “We came across my Alias, who I had to temporarily change into…”. Also! Again, telling The Team how they feel is no good. Maybe ask instead, “How did they thrash the team and get away with what they wanted?”
Team Moves. I wish the Triumphant Celebration move was less about dreams, and more about willing to do whatever it takes to get things done.
Advancement. Should really have at least one or two more ‘Take another move from your Playbook’.
Andrew Taylor I appreciate the time it took you to go through it! I’ll respond in kind.
– It’s implied your Persona and Alias get different costumes. I can make it more apparent.
– I originally had it so you could only use one ability as the Hero and one as the Alias. It was, other than you, panned by everyone I showed as bloated, overworked and not much fun. It was dropped and I certainly see where they were coming from. I think in concept it’s cool but in essence…that’s not what this Playbook is about. It’s just a lot of rolling.
– The Darkness Mechanic needs work, frankly. I’ll be doing so and updating once it’s been worked. I have a few ideas of how to do it, but for now…it’s in Alpha on the current sheet.
– Hear you on the moves, I need to make some that are a bit more Hero Specific. Well Known was meant to show this but it missed the mark. It’s the one move no one liked.
– Angel/Devil – You’re once again the minority. Everyone else whose given feedback has told me it was the one thing they’d be taking for their game. Regardless of the Playbook.
– Disguise – It’s more or less Mary Contrary. That move also allows you to misdirect. Others have said it needs a little work but I don’t feel that Pierce the Mask is a meta-move. It isn’t at the tables I game at and I don’t see why this can’t work when a published Playbook has more or less the same thing.
– Those Who Hunt – It’s supposed to be callous. You’re supposed to look bad for doing it. That’s the pay off. You’re not a good person as the Alias. You’re an anti-hero who puts his goals first and everyone else second. The Transformed and Bull were the two I already looked at, and they can be just as bullying and callous with the GM choosing what all it means when you destroy property. Civilians are going to get in the way. This one just stresses it.
– Long Shadow – I’d forgotten who I took it from, others made similar suggestions for such a move, but I think it’s vague enough that when you’re playing in a big city it’ll get play. It’ll need Playtesting to see though.
– Twilight and Well Known – It is a theme that you need to take on your Alias but as you’ve said. You want to see moves that lets you do cool stuff you couldn’t do without the other. Twilight and Well Known were attempts at this. I think the former does as good as a job showing this as any. You’ve become, even a little, like the people you fight and thus can reason with them better. Normal heroes can’t do that. You’ve changed the playing field by taking on your Alias even as a hero.
Well Known is being scrapped, I just haven’t had time to remove or alter it. I think it’s strange that you feel Well Known focuses too much on the Hero side when almost every other move focuses on the Alias. There’s only two moves, of six, that don’t. I tried very hard to give a balanced move sheet where there were two moves for both, two moves for just the Alias and one move for the Hero with another to flex. I think that’s the right ratio and I think the Hero moves out to show you using your knowledge as you straddle the line to their best use. That way if you only pick the two Hero moves, your Alias still matters.
– When the Team – I want to avoid making it too confrontational honestly. While this book is, at some part, confrontational the rule is that you want to be part of the team. Setting it up to where your Alias is just this bad ass that beat the team instead of casting it as something you need to hide I think is better. Because the Alias is something the Team would be angry about. Look at how Red X was handled in Teen Titans. Robin didn’t use it to curbstomp his friends. He only did it when he absolutely had to when they were getting in his way of fighting Slade. The goal as the Persona should be to work with the team to your goals and using the Alias when they’re not good enough. Only your Alias can really do it.
Not only that but no Playbook’s backstory comes after the team. The Doomed doesn’t get to be the Doomed after the team came together. The Protege brings their Mentor in from the get go. Etc. The whole idea is you bring your baggage to the Team and the Team is what makes you drop it through play. So making the Alias is rather counter to that. Though if I were going to do it, the When the Team question would be about how your Alias came up. But I won’t do that. The Backstory already asks when and why and it precedes the team questions for a reason.
The Team Moves aren’t currently set in stone. They’re typically based on the rest of the feel of the book and while Darkness is in Alpha, the Team Moves are too.
You should go back and look over the Advancements. You get one choice of a Playbook Move. Three from other Playbooks. It’s been that way since I dropped the Two Playbook idea. So IDK when you looked or how you missed it but it’s literally at the top of the Advancement section.
I hope that answers everything! I had a chuckle seeing you suggest basically counter to everything everyone else suggested be fixed, several of your suggestions were already present in the book itself. I think the changes thus far (barring The Darkness and a few of the moves) have been positive. The person I made the Playbook is so far happy with it though they have echoed the issues with Darkness and those few moves. I won’t be bringing back the Separate Powers thing.
Andrew Taylor I forgot something. Freeing up the labels. I really have no intention of doing that. Mundane is not a label this should embody (your example is clearly Danger for the Mob Boss). You’re taking a second identity to fight the good fight badly. Mundane is not on the table for this playbook frankly.
I re-read your new version of Persona. I agree with choose a Label paragraph but you say: For Alias choose either Danger or Freak and for Hero choose Savior or Superior.
In my opinion ALIAS can have Danger or Superior: he’s aggressive toward Crime or capable to stand over the moral or ethical code and for HERO: Savior or Mundane cause it try to be good or try to be discreet (instead or the possible boldness of his darkself). Maybe you can cast out freak ’cause his freakness is in the mind-set to use multi-identities not in his mechanical use of playbook. What’s your opinion 830toAwesome ?