My players had a successful session: the Salvatores rescued Cindi Mayweather from Comediennemy and her…
My players had a successful session: the Salvatores rescued Cindi Mayweather from Comediennemy and her Vaudvillains—and defused the situation mostly without fighting the robot separatists Hyperbolic Orange and Stygian Blue!
Since someone in the group asked for more examples of Love Letters, here are two that I sent to my players to…
Since someone in the group asked for more examples of Love Letters, here are two that I sent to my players to resolve dangling plot threads between sessions.
Torque is an Outsider who ended the last session by chasing a fleeing villain in his kirby-kraft (the Lever). Sonia is a Bull who ended last session accompanying a young girl (Aislin), someone changed by the same folks who changed Sonia, as the city’s premier science hero tries to remove Aislin’s hi-tech bracelet that those people have used to knock her out or forcibly teleport her.
_______________________________________
Dear Torque,
So, you want to capture Quartermaster? Well, sport, you’ve taken the first step: flying the Lever out the window of Crimebusters Visitor Center. But now you’ve got to pick up Quartermaster’s trail and overtake him, and then overcome the hardened criminal.
Since you’re relying on the Lever, you’ll roll +Superior, that is +1. On a hit, you overtake Quartermaster (and therefore clear Guilty). On a 10+ choose one complication from the list below. On a 7-9, choose two complications.
• F.A.T.E. hails you again, demanding you ground your craft and explain your reckless flying to F.A.T.E. air traffic control. You ignore them in order to stay on Quartermaster’s trail, and F.A.T.E. opens fire with anti-aircraft weapons on the Lever, essentially trying to taze your ship. The Lever takes some damage, and you know that this could cause problems later if you don’t take some time to see about repairing it.
• You catch up to Quartermaster and get in a couple hits, but he tosses down a sound bomb and gets away. However, one weapon you used tagged him with an exotic “scent,” so the Lever could home in on his location if he’s ever close enough to you again.
• Penny Dreadnought also catches up to Quartermaster. He pulls up on his motorized Penny Farthing and launches himself off to grapple with the villain. “Get back, Spaceman!’ Penny Dreadnought yells at you. “This is a time for fighting man-to-man, not fancy flying!” His words shift your Danger down and your Freak up.
On a miss, you are unable to catch up to Quartermaster before he goes to ground. Darn that stealthy mercenary! You don’t clear Guilty, and you mark an additional condition of your choice, whatever makes most sense to you based on the scenario.
XXOO,
Your Gamemaster
_____________________
Dear Sonia,
Last we saw, you were accompanying Aislin to Doc Quantum’s lab, where she and her aides investigated whether they could remove Aislin’s Forge bracelet. Based on your requests, it seems you would like to have Doc Quantum release Aislin into your custody AND to receive the casing of a Forge bracelet—just the metal shell with the electronic guts scooped out.
Let’s see how you do at this. This challenge will revolve around people skills. So roll +Mundane—that is, -1.
On a 10+, you get your wish. Aislin has clearly bonded with you and asks to go with you. Doc Quantum initially hesitates to release her into your custody, but you let her know you’re going to rely on your nun friend for help. Doc Quantum is able to take apart the extra bracelet and, at your request, gives you the casing. She holds onto the electronics inside for further study.
On a 7-9, choose one of the following modifications to this outcome:
• Aislin, as she recovers consciousness, becomes confused and uncommunicative—perhaps the trauma of what she’s undergone is coming crashing down on her. She doesn’t respond positively to you or anyone else around—which means by default she remains with Doc Quantum as Doc Quantum tries to figure out what should be done with her.
• Doc Quantum and her assistants can’t find a safe way to remove Aislin’s bracelet. The best they can do is clamp a larger bracelet-shaped device around it that should make it impossible for Aislin’s to receive any outside signals.
• Doc Quantum wants to hang onto all the pieces of the Forge bracelet to study it. When you ask for the shell of one, she inquires why you would need that and is unconvinced by your explanation. You leave without a Forge bracelet casing.
On a miss, all three of the above are true. Aislin clams up. She remains in Doc Quantum’s custody for the time being as Doc Quantum works on removing the bracelet, which has proven an extremely tough nut to crack. You’ll have to visit again (perhaps with a certain comfort object?) and take another shot. Mark Angry, as you seethe about how this went down.
XXOO,
Your Gamemaster
So I’ve written my first love letter for one of my players.
So I’ve written my first love letter for one of my players. I’m pretty excited about this, as there are a few real fun things I can pull depending on how he rolls. For context: Catalyst (Reformed) recently rolled high on his obligation time-pass. His father, the incarcerated former leader of a powerful but corrupt vigilante gang, gets in touch to let him know that a former associate, Jabberwock, is holding a grudge and out for revenge…which he’s apparently willing to take out on his son Catalyst.
Curious as to whether there exists a blank, fillable “card sized” PDF of a Deck of Villainy card.
Curious as to whether there exists a blank, fillable “card sized” PDF of a Deck of Villainy card.
I want to have that for making Villains in Roll20, because the full sheet is overkill.
How are everyone’s games going??
An artistic rendering of the latest adventure in our Campaign.
An artistic rendering of the latest adventure in our Campaign. Left to right: Torque (the Outsider), Sonia (the Bull) and NPC Aislin on her back, Captain Bowmaster (the Beacon), and Halfpenny (the Protégé).
Has anyone tried anything in a fourth wall breaking playbook?
Has anyone tried anything in a fourth wall breaking playbook? I would normally consider it ban-worthy if a player actively meta-gamed at my table, but there could be some room there for a Deadpool (without the X-card worthy moments) inspired character. Not sure if you’d want them knowing they’re in a comic book or knowing they’re in an RPG.
I have a Doomed in one of my games that asked to have time pass differently in her Sanctuary as one of the downsides.
I have a Doomed in one of my games that asked to have time pass differently in her Sanctuary as one of the downsides. The location is a pocket dimension dream world where she can retreat, so time passes as it does when you dream, sometimes very little time passing, sometimes a great deal more. I decided to make a custom move to figure it out as I love when moves create that little bit of chaos during play that requires me to “take a powerful blow” as GM to figure out how to weave it all together.
Here is the current rough draft:
Time Elapse
When you spend time in Changeling’s Sanctuary, she will roll+Current Doom Track, on a miss no time has passed at all, you arrive where you were in the same moment that you left. On a 7-9, it has been 2d6xCurrent Doom Track minutes since you entered. On a 10+, it has been 2d6xCurrent Doom Track hours since you entered.
I decided to have it replicate the Take a Powerful Blow move so it is inverted (high roll = worse outcome) with the current doom track determining what to add to the roll. I wasn’t comfortable assigning arbitrary values to the amount of time that passed though, so I went with random rolls for the time, probably rolled by the person affected, whereas the roll to see where you fall in the time elapse is always rolled by Changeling. As written the smallest amount of elapsed time, if time has elapsed, is 2 minutes, the greatest possible amount of time elapsed is 2 days(!!!).
The themes that have come up in the game thus far (just played the first full play session yesterday) have fallen along the lines of ancestry/lineage, the way the public interacts/reacts to young heroes, especially when they screw up in very public ways, and time manipulation (via an artifact that has formed the basis of the first arc thus far).
What do folks think? Can anyone think of any improvements?
Also, I love this game. Seriously. So freaking fun!
So I’m running my first campaign of Masks and it’s going pretty well.
So I’m running my first campaign of Masks and it’s going pretty well. The first arc the team will be dealing with (BTW Spoilers if you are a member of the Losers Club) concerns itself with a substance called Mutagen being sold around the city. Mutagen is dangerous but can give people superpowers under the right circumstances.
One particular strand of this arc will involve an NPC trying to sell our Beacon some Mutagen to give them real powers. This is the first draft of the custom move for what happens when a PC uses Mutagen. Just wanted to get people’s opinions on it, and see if any more experienced GMs can give advice.
“When you Ingest Mutagen. If you are the Nova, your powers overwhelm the Mutagen and nothing happens, mark a condition. Otherwise…
Roll +Mundane.
On a 10+ choose 2
On a 7-9 choose 3
– You get new powers. Select 1 power from a playbook not currently in use. Add it to your list of powers.
– You are horribly disfigured. Swap your Mundane label with your Freak. Take the move “Be the monster” from the Transformed playbook.
– You are overwhelmed by the Mutagen. Mark all conditions and become unconscious.
– You become doomed. Take Doom from the Doomed playbook. You do not get Doomsigns. Once your Doom Track is full, your doom arrives.
On a miss, the Mutagen doesn’t take hold. How frustrating! Mark a condition.”
I’m making them roll Mundane for the check because it’s more dramatic for a character who is perceived to be normal to suddenly get a power boost, Rather than a freaky character to become more freaky. The intention is that if this move ever comes up it is a character changing moment.
I included the thing about the Nova because the Nova in our group is already basically God, they don’t really need more powers.
I’m unsure about the doomed option. Partially because we have a doomed in the group and I don’t want to rob them of their unique thing, and partially because it’s kind of a “rocks fall you die” option. If anyone can think of a better option please let me know.
So yeah, that’s it, let me know what you think. 🙂
Just wanted to share some of my homebrew moves for my PBP campaign I am on running on the Sufficient Velocity…
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?
This is ICON™ the newest teen hero team on the streets.
This is ICON™ the newest teen hero team on the streets. They made their first appearance interfering in the violent and destructive battle between the hero Knight Owl and the villain Dr. Scorpio that took place in front of the McGregor children’s hospital.
From left we have Fulminata, heir to the legacy of Centurion. She carries the blessing of Victoria passed down from ancient Rome.
Next there is Brass Bullet, the human projectile. Super strongman whose way even the toughest villain do not want to be in.
In the middle we got Conduit, the mysterious metal-skinned human generator. While her appearance might be shocking, her team notes that she has a heart of gold.
Then we have Echo, the soundwave-manipulating superstar as seen on TV. His fans wonder how high he will elevate this team.
And last we have the teams leader and planner The Iron Shrike. Tactical genious, martial artist, gadgeteet and previous sidekick of Red Raptor now trying to make his own mark on the world.