Author: Charlie Etheridge-Nunn

One of our group shifted from Legacy to Harbinger between seasons as he was ripped into the future. His memories have been hazy but with a big battle ahead we decided to use Microscope to see what the grim, dark future would be like.

The photo cards are all the PCs and NPCs and where they died in this future. All apart from Tyr who is our clueless former Legacy back in the present to change things (he reappeared in the pink post it on the top left of the first photo). Oh and King Karbon, the ruler of the Periodic Table of Evil, who destroyed reality by wrecking physics at the end of the timeline.

This was great fun, kind of like getting to wreck all the toys we’ve built in our first two seasons of Masks. Now they need to make sure it never happens this way.

I just finished the first session of a Masks campaign. The players gave me so much more than I could have asked.

They’re a Newborn, a Nova and a Transformed, so they all started with a high Freak and low Mundane.

Their hangout is a small island which was a monument to a golden age hero who’s long since been forgotten and no one visits. They created Plutonium Joe as their first villain and hints at the Periodic Table of Evil as a supervillain organisation.

Apollo, The Newborn, freaked out at his co-creator, Dr Irons, showing up at a factory going through a meltdown. He froze at the wrong moment and couldn’t fight back or flee.

Extraordinarius!, The Nova, teleported out of a nearby top hat and blasted Dr Irons, only for Apollo to get in the way. They had some long words after the mission about that.

Stalker, The Transformed, managed to talk down the villainous Edgelord and they all bonded at a Vietnamese restaurant/theatre called Pho Sho.

I’ve been enjoying my Blades in the Dark campaign, but it was really good getting to be in a daft-yet-dramatic superhero world.

I just finished my first game of Masks. My group were:

Quick Shot aka Todd. A Beacon who saw heroes in action and started using his archery skills for superheroism. The football coach/mentor of the team doesn’t believe he’s up to the task. He likes Amelia and his parents adopted Tom.

Dr. Amatic aka Amelia Rate. A Doomed who was experimented on by Medi-Evil, a mad scientist who wants to Moreau people. She is attracted to Tom and Tito, but not Todd who she sees as a sibling (ouch! Right in the adolescence!)

Tito Vasquez aka Vibez (named by Todd). A Delinquent who doesn’t like the others but has to stand up for his kind.

Tom Hart. A Bull and jock whose mother gave him to Medi-Evil for experiments. He was saved by his dad who died in the rescue. He likes Todd but had difficulty showing it in the session

It was a really fun game, although I think we’ll do better now we know how the influence economy works. We had a couple of hours so we did character creation and a scene at a mall with a pair of villains:

Girl Huntsman was a military sniper once saved by a Golden Age villain. She took his name when he was killed by a superhero and declared war on powered heroes. She was dressed as an insurance-selling tiger in the mall and nearly set off a power-suppressing bomb.

Then there was Pillbug Pete, a man in giant woodlouse-themed armour who was robbing a bank. He rolled through the floor, buried people and was ultimately pitiful.

In fighting these guys, Vibez was affected by several of his own emotion blasts, fled the mall and remained outside so it seemed like he meant to leave. Dr. Amatic got a text mid-heroic monologue and replied to it, too (damn kids). Everyone made fun of Quick Shot’s ice arrow and ignored that his bola-arrow tripped Pillbug Pete. Good times and hopefully there will be more games including the deadly Medi-Evil!