Highlights from this session of Masks:

Highlights from this session of Masks:

Highlights from this session of Masks:

Super Pizza, a pizza place frequented by superheroes (with signed photographs on the wall (the photographs are actually panels from older comics)) whose mascot is an anthropomorphic slice of pizza wearing a mask and a cape and punching a villainous salad.

Solid State the Janus ordering only a salad at this place – leading to the nickname of Salad State.

A Superhero (Ronin) involved in an illegal smuggling of alien deathlazors. Against his will of course.

The Protege going invisible and stealing the weapons.

The Reformed taking pictures about Ronin doing this.

A group of drunken punks telling the Newborn that Superheros should use their powers to fight ‘the man’ and making the Newborn write it down as a lesson for the future.

The revelation that Ronin is a character that was created (in fictional publication history) to draw in the manga/anime fans but who had a really great writer early on that did tons of interesting stuff with Ronin, reconstructing a lot of tropes of anime and making a very memorable run. Nowadays he is still around because the character was so popular at the time but now no author one knows what to do with him.

The revelation that the Protege Whisp is mainly doing the hero thing because her mentor forces her to. This actually came out of a nice snowball of moves going Reformed sharing a triumphant victory -> protege sharing a weakness as the answer and the Janus comforting her.

I found that Riverdale (the CW/Netflix show) has perfect examples of Make humans (especially parents) seem Monstrous.

I found that Riverdale (the CW/Netflix show) has perfect examples of Make humans (especially parents) seem Monstrous.

I found that Riverdale (the CW/Netflix show) has perfect examples of Make humans (especially parents) seem Monstrous. I aspire to that level of pain in my Monsterhearts games.

Playtest Report: The Reformed

Playtest Report: The Reformed

Playtest Report: The Reformed

There is a problem with the way the obligations the Reformed has play out in our game. For one there was no reason so far for the Reformed to get back to her villain contacts for help. Now that is on both the player and the GM of course but a character wanting to get away from these villains wouldn’t really go directly back to these characters for help especially when they come to them with their own problems all the time.

In addition the calling in of a favor or crashing into the reformed’s life takes up way too much screentime. In a 2 hour session all playtime can be taken up by that thing, especially when the reformed is eager to work off their debt. While this has lead to one story development that everyone enjoys (I think) other times it feels like a drag that we need to get through before we get back to that other cool stuff.

In addition the move triggering every session has proven to be a problem. A session can easily take up very little in game time. Last session one of the Reformed contacts asked them to guard an exchange of contraband vs. cash for them and we didn’t get to that evening happening before the session wrapped because moves snowball. So next session by the wording of the move the same character would call our Reformed again for help even though the thing they were supposed to be doing hasn’t even happened yet.

To fix the timing problem we will move that trigger to “when time passes”, just as the Janus does. We will also add a Janus to our game and so we will see how their downtime moves feature differently in the game and how much time it takes.

How were your experiences with the Reformed’s contacts in your game and how did you handle it?

Extra thoughts: What the hell hero has been used 2 times so far I think, both times to just inflict a condition. The character also has the A Mirror Darkly move which I fully forgot about so far because for that character I was focused so much on their contacts. Will try to bring people he hurt more into the spotlight now that I remembered.

Brendan Conway and 1of3 may like this.

New Custom Move: Explanation Caption

New Custom Move: Explanation Caption

New Custom Move: Explanation Caption

When you encounter a superpowered phenomenon you may ask the GM: “what/who is this?” and they will give you some basic info. Then tell them how you learned/know this.

The goal of this move is to allow the players to explore and know more about the stuff that is going on that the Comic Reader would already know. In this way everyone can learn about the basics of what a villain is about (if they are a villain that isn’t acting their very first time) and the lack of a roll makes it easy and fast to use at the table.

Also it is not as good as the Read the Files move of the Protege that allows for more insights.

Missing subchapters from the book?!

Missing subchapters from the book?!

Missing subchapters from the book?!

I was just looking through the MASKS CORE.pdf to start my Arcs and Hooks planning and found that there is stuff missing. The subchapters

Build out the Cast

and Fill in the Phases

are missing! Or for Fill in the Phases parts of it are missing. I don’t have the book with me to check there.

Am I missing something or was there an error?

The Reformed in our game lives in a Foster Home for kids with powers run by a retired superhero couple.

The Reformed in our game lives in a Foster Home for kids with powers run by a retired superhero couple.

The Reformed in our game lives in a Foster Home for kids with powers run by a retired superhero couple. You can go there for help.

I wrote a move about what happens when you go there for help. This mechanises the place and thereby hopefully makes it more relevant in the game instead of only a backdrop.

What custom moves have you come up with in your game to enhance the world and bring it more to the spotlight and how did it go?

‘Power Level’ in Masks

‘Power Level’ in Masks

‘Power Level’ in Masks

In general we don’t care about the power level of our heroes in Masks right? I mean look at the Nova.

However, there is something that occurred to me. How you fictionally set up your character can have a huge impact on the general power level in your game.

Let’s have a look at the Legacy and the Protege. When you are playing Kid Flash you inherit all of the Flash’s rogues. When you are Superboy you get Luthor with an eye on you. If on the other hand you are the new Question or training with Luke Cage the stakes are much smaller.

Another aspect of this are the “When the team first got together” questions. When the notable foe you defeated is The Trapster that is different than let’s say Venom. It sets a certain tone and expectation for the team.

Have you found the same to be true in your games?

Running a one-shot set during an Alien Invasion this evening.

Running a one-shot set during an Alien Invasion this evening.

Running a one-shot set during an Alien Invasion this evening. Will be a test to see how it goes. The idea is to run this like a a a tie-in issue to some big comic event.

Really happy to run Masks again.

#halcyonian repost

#halcyonian repost

#halcyonian repost

Originally shared by T. Franzke

Villain: Technosaurus Rex

What appears to be a robot or exoskeleton Allosaurus is tearing appart the city; stomping on cars and people alike.

Technosaurus Rex – Silver Generation

Drive: To bring back Dinosaurs, elevate them to sentience and have them rule this earth once again

Moves:

* Distract them with Raptorbots (size of a turkey, not a lion)

* Directly ram through an obstacle

* Tear apart with massive jaws

* Reveal some tech that covers up an apparent weakness

Conditions:

* Angry

* Hopeless

* Guilty