Okay, the general backstory and the system in this is specifically geared toward Fate Core since that’s the…
Originally shared by Thrythlind aka Luke Green
Okay, the general backstory and the system in this is specifically geared toward Fate Core since that’s the community that was asking for more information. But I figured I could link it here and get y’all’s thoughts on how to run this mythology in MotW. Will likely cross post to Urban Shadows as well. Maybe Masks and Worlds of Peril. Superhero, Urban Fantasy and Modern Horror have a lot of crossover these days.
An update from the PBP Villain Team MASKs game.
An update from the PBP Villain Team MASKs game.
I finally got back into things after a pretty nasty car wreck earlier this year (had a player drop during that time) but man did we swing back into things hard.
The fun part of running a game for Villains is making enemies that are more evil than they are, forcing them to be anti-heroes as well as a group of people willing to do whatever they want. I came up with the Gaunt Creeper, a swaddled and bound villan(ness) who was so angry at the world for disfiguring them that all they wanted to do was spread their pain by subsonically triggering self-harm centers in the human body.
The Delinquent who is a cybernetic hacker mixed with Harley Quinn short circuited the sound system and pumped in battle music to hype the team up as the Janus used the Gaunt Creeper’s explosive entrance to summon a horde of cockroaches from the sewers to clear out the public due to squeamishness.
The Beacon and Protege directly engaged the new target and our new member (who so perfectly chose my homemade playbook “The Trainer”) used his demonic patrona to burn the costume off the Gaunt Creeper, exposing it to its own image as the Protege tapped and shared her neural networking to force the Gaunt Creeper to look at itself through her own eyes as she deviously slashed and struck at it. The Beacon sword fought the being with the lightsaber I had so kindly graced him with as a bonus for the new Star Wars release last year to scar the being even more.
Once it had been taken out, in true villain style, the Protege took leadership and put the Gaunt Creeper out of their misery and they are now super stars of Halcyon city…and the envy of many heroes who were caught off guard and busy saving the public.
I have never been prouder to be gut punched by my players and had great fun with their rolls and actions. I am even more proud to be able to create villains that are not super ultra mega neonazis to get the villains to want to save people as well as make their own mark on the City.
Next the villains are teaming up with their mentors and parents to delve into Halcyon City government vaults to break out the mcguffin for the Protege’s mentor (who, revitalized like Gadget Gal from the Awesomes has been hitting on the Janus in his hormonal teen self).
To my great players and many more awesome sessions!
Just got charged for my Backerkit and really looking forward to running a game for my group.
Just got charged for my Backerkit and really looking forward to running a game for my group. Are Backerkit backers going to have access to rules before the July estimated delivery or am I just going to spend a while planning out the dastardly villany of the Boomorangutan?
Did we get charged yet for Backer kit?
Did we get charged yet for Backer kit?
Just wondering how this works… what if when backer kit closes and the charges are tried and we don’t have the funds on the card then do we have a certain amount of time to try a different card or something or, well, how does this work?
I am only asking because I’m confused and I had planned on, probably a mistake of mine, the charge coming out last month when the Feb 2nd update mentioned that the backer kit was ending at the end of February.
Social Media For Online Games
Social Media For Online Games
Hey Masks Lovers!
I’m about to start two concurrent Masks games playing online on a bi-weekly basis with the conceit that both teams are in the same city and can crossover as necessary. I’m super excited about getting these groups going and have a couple of little tricks (weekly news-paper articles! Giant Sized Issues!) but was trying to work out a good way to have some shared social media going.
Teenage superheroes ought to be texting or tweeting or something, so I’d love to have some kind of an ongoing available chat/forum for this, ideally one that’s easy to get people to check.
Any advice from people for the best way to do this? I considered Slack, but I’m not sure if there’s a better way.
Thanks!
this makes 3 out of 5 of the Chimera Sirens illustrated…given I’ve only written one chapter/session of their…
this makes 3 out of 5 of the Chimera Sirens illustrated…given I’ve only written one chapter/session of their adventures this isn’t that big.
Originally shared by Thrythlind aka Luke Green
Another character from the batch made for me by avionetca.deviantart.com
This is one of the Masks characters I created using a variety of concocted semi-random methods. She ended up getting the playbook of The Protege so I decided that she was trained by an older superhero with the same elemental powers (Air Control).
I had the artist draw her dressed in civilian garb because her bland fashion sense in combination with her obviously not human coloration is amusing and more interesting than a standard superhero suit.
Minako is one of the two youngest of her team at 18, Kyou is younger than her at 17. The two teenagers are the ones that have been trained as heroes since a very young age, the three girls in their twenties are significantly less professional.
http://thrythlind.blogspot.jp/2015/12/chimera-sirens-protege-jade-chimera.html
Some of my game’s antagonists…
Some of my game’s antagonists…
Red Glare – Murderous, violent, patriot
Voodoo Vox – Manipulative, morally bankrupt, greedy
Katie Connelly – missing girl, some kind of connection to supervillain attacks and the failure of law enforcement’s high-tech gear.
Katie and Vox are pulled straight from Google image searches.
Red Glare (my personal favourite) is a combination of several images. First off, that’s Ronda Rousey underneath the makeup. The shoulder pad belongs to The Comedian from The Watchmen movie. The flag tattoo and body armour were also pulled from Google image search. I threw everything together in Photoshop and added the lens flare and a red tint for good measure.
Anybody have experience running Masks for two players, and if so, how did it go?
Anybody have experience running Masks for two players, and if so, how did it go? I feel like the team dynamics would break down a bit with less than three characters, but I’m curious if that’s true in play.
Playing around with GM-less set up.
Playing around with GM-less set up.
Start of session fight set up.
Go around the table and each player gets to answer one of the following questions. Go around the table once or twice as desired. Small groups might want to go around as many as three times.
Where is this fight taking place?
We’ve already attracted some publicity, is it positive, negative or neutral?
What event started the fight?
Some misunderstanding is complicating the situation, what is it?
There is an unexpected element that is dangerous for everybody involved, what is it?
Something is giving your character a lot of frustration, what is it?
Were you and your team expecting a fight or did this come out of the blue?
Who or what is the fight against (a fight can be against a natural disaster)?
How has your team been haning itself to this point? Are they doing well, holding their own or overmatched?
How well is the team working together right now?
There seem to be hints that this is part of something bigger. What are the hints?
Someone important to the team or you is in danger right now. Who is it?
****
Those are based on the how the team got together questions.
Gameplay.
Team fights.
Whenever a player ends their move, they describe a twist or attack that their character can’t deal with and someone is chosen to react.
Personal scenes. Each player gets at least one spotlight scene with up to one or two PCs in supporting roles. Remaining players take on NPC or GM roles.
The spotlight PC can choose one of GM Playbook related moves which they want the scene to focus around achieving or surpassing.
For example, a Bull might choose “endanger their Love.” In which case their Love will be endanger sometime during this scenes.
I ran Masks on Sunday for my group, who are taking a break from a Fate campaign.
I ran Masks on Sunday for my group, who are taking a break from a Fate campaign. None of us had played before (to my knowledge) but we were familiar with PbtA mechanics.
I wrote up a synopsis of the first session (link below). There was more of a utopian/dystopian and Young Justice style vibe. As expected, we ran into a few questions about the intent of the rules:
1. When a PC rejects an adult’s Influence, and they “immediately act to prove them wrong”, does that attempt to prove wrong need to be successful? I ruled no – it’s enough for the PC to stand determined, even if the adult isn’t swayed.
2. Does the Doomed power “vitality absorption” include absorbing energy blasts? I ruled no – it’s more like lifeforce transfer, a vampiric draining from targets. We might revisit this power in the second session.
3. The characters fought a powerful robotic tank. If it successfully attacked someone trying to use their powers for another purpose rather than opposing it directly, would the “take a powerful blow” move be the appropriate choice? I wasn’t sure, so I punted. Re-reading it, I think it probably is, though I’d probably rule that “being shot with a cannon” probably doesn’t lead to “you lash out verbally” as a viable response.
Overall it was a fun game. The rules have a light touch and covered most of our questions gracefully. I think our biggest challenges will be correctly managing Influence (potentially keeping lists of who has it and who doesn’t as our web of NPCs grows) and remembering the Team options.
Thanks for a great product, Masks team!
http://astralfrontier.org/games/deep-13/2016-03-06-tank.html