Masks: The Fourth Generation

Metatopia 2015: 8 Nov 2015: 10 am: Masks: The Fourth Generation

• GM: Brendan Conway
• Nick Trambino: Playbook: The Legacy. Highest Label; Savior. Name: Protector, son of Captain America -- I mean Vanguard
• Me: Playbook: The Bull. Highest Label: Danger. James Whistler (secret identity) aka Rocky (superhero name), age 17.
• Fred Hicks: Playbook: The Outsider. Highest Label: Superior. Name: Strata Phel-An, aka Stratosphere.
• Robert Bohl: My notes say he had the Delinquent playbook, but then indicate he switched to The Nova, which I think is correct. Highest Label: Freak. Name: Marnie Rivera, aka Starheart of Solsystem, age 19.

The five labels are: Freak, Danger, Savior, Superior, and Mundane. These are double edged stats, describing how characters see themselves and their stuff. People with influence over your PC can make those labels go up and down.

The five conditions are: Afraid, Angry, Guilty, Insecure, and Hopeless.

It didn't come up, but there's a move called Moment of Truth that can be unlocked with enough xp for a new move. One can choose this move at any time when one has that much xp, but once one does, one of the character's labels is now locked and cannot change. I think the character's labels must always add up to the same total, but I'm not certain.

Robert looked over the playbooks and said that it was a good sign that he could create Green Lantern in no fewer than 3 different playbooks.

Me: Ah it's Sunday -- I'll play the Bull.

Fred: That's a good Sunday choice.

Fred let me take his playbook, and I had my own, so I'll start with our two PCs.

Strata Phel-An, codenamed Stratosphere, is from a star people hivemind that lives at the heart of a star. Currently, Phel-An is humanoid, with a neon body and a humanizing costume, and of ambiguous gender, which actually fluctuates based on who the alien is talking to. Phel-An can fly and is pretty tough, and has heliokinesis and stunning beauty.

Phel-An's starting labels were:

• Freak +1
• Danger -1, which rose to 0 by the end
• Savior 0, which dropped to -1 by the end
• Superior +2
• Mundane 0, which rose to +1 by the end

Actually, one of these probably rose at character creation, but I don't recall which.

• Where do you come from? Star People.
• Why did you come to Earth? Bored.
• Why do you want to stay here (for now at least)? Not Bored!
• Why do your people want you to come home? Our light is diminished. [That is, because Phel-An is not there, the light of the hive mind is diminished by Phel-An's absence. I'm wondering how much of this is their way of saying they miss Phel-An.]
• Why do you care about the team? Teach me diversity.

Phel-An was learning about individuality, an amazing thing!

Relationships:

• You've been learning about Earth by spending time with: Starheart. The most alien of the humans. Starheart explained about Guy Greeting Rituals.
• You have a crush on Rocky but you keep it under wraps because: I understand I must gender as Buddy.

I'm being who Rocky needs me to be.

Demeanor: Haughty or Cheerful? Cheerful! Thrilled to be here -- give everyone influence over you.

Outside Moves:

• Belong in Two Worlds: Whenever time passes, Phel-An can access alien technology or knowledge or advanced healing techniques.
• Not so different after all: This allows Phel-An to get certain mechanical benefits when talking about Phel-An's home.
• Kirby-craft: Strengths: Fast & maneuverable, telepathic; Weaknesses: Bizarre fuel source, easily detectable

The Kirby-craft was powered on Joy. But, it was loud! Other people could take it on a joy ride if they could figure out how to interface with it.

Thus, it would be significant if Phel-An became depressed. There would be no joy to power the craft!

Phel-An had arrived relatively recently, and revealed this arrival even more recently. My notes say something that might be "a few years into puberty"

James Whistler kept his identity as Rocky a secret. He was white, 17 years old, wearing dirty clothing as a student and a simple costume as a superhero.

He had a secret identity because he had been kidnapped. His captors had changed him into a perfect weapon: superhumanly tough, incredibly strong, and uniquely skilled at fighting.

Starting Labels:

• Freak +1
• Danger +2, which I increased at game start to +3
• Savior -1
• Superior +1
• Mundane -1

Backstory:

• Who changed you? Rocky didn't know.
• How did you escape from them: Smashed through walls -- they didn't realize how strong I was.
• Who looks out for you now? I seem to have left this blank.
• Why do you try to be a hero? I'm not a hero. Just trying to get by. And, after that, it's what friends do so...
• Why do you care about the team? Cuz people want to hurt them like I was hurt.

We defeated a dangerous enemy. Who or what was it? The Iron Tyrant (ala Doc Doom) with his robot army and orbital platforms.

Relationships

The Bull has a Love and a Rival, and the definitions of these terms are utterly broad.

Strata Phel-An is your love. You've opened up to them about the worst parts of your past.

For Rocky, "love" was more platonic. I was fairly flexible on which way things went, but Fred pointed out that Phel-An appeared to people as what they most needed. And, everyone agreed, what Rocky most needed was a buddy. Rocky was satisfied with this, not realizing that Phel-An wanted more.

Phel-An (probably in a thought balloon): I would gender to you in a different way.

Protector is your rival. They tried to control you at a critical moment.

When Iron Tyrant attacked, Protector came to James Whistler, having figured out that he was superpowered. He gave James the With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility speech, and James agreed to help, because, of course, d*mn it, Protector was right.

Influence: You're focused. Give you love and rival influence over you, but that's it.

Bull Moves:

The Bull's Heart: Take +1 ongoing to any action that supports your love or frustrates your rival. The playbook starts with this.

Thick and Thin Skinned: Whenever you have Angry marked, take +1 ongoing to unleash your powers.

There When It Matters: When you leap to defend your love or rival, roll +Danger instead of +Savior to defend from an immediate threat.

The Nova, Marine Rivera, had been approached by aliens who gave her superpowers, turning her into Starheart of the Sol System. My notes say "compassion based powers", but I'm not sure how far that went.

She hung out with Phel-An to blow off steam.

Starheart: I don't call her Strata. Her name is Phel-An.

And then, there was Protector, the son of Vanguard.

Fred: You're just casually great.

Nick: And I have to deal with that.

Rocky's true identity was secret. Phel-An was very open about being an alien. I think Starheart was open as well, though I don't recall.

As for Protector, as Nick pointed out, he had no choice in that. As Vanguard's child, he was the son of a celebrity and his identity was quite public. He was a shining Beacon of Hope.

Nick said that Protector's father didn't want his son doing the superhero thing, but at the same time, Vanguard couldn't stop talking about doing what's right. This left him short on arguments against his son's actions.

Protector's costume was like Vanguard's. In fact, Protector used Vanguard's old costumes. He tore off the Vs and put Ps in their place.

Fred: Like grunge World War II.

Protector also had a younger sister, about 8 or 9. He got his brains from his mother, according to Nick. His mother was essentially Batman, and while the public knew that she was Vanguard's wife, the public did not know that she was a superhero in her own right.

We started looking at how the group came together as team. It started when the Iron Tyrant was using Strata Phel-An, the Outsider, whom the other PCs did not trust when they first met because, at that point, Phel-An was a big glowy ball of light, harnessed by the Iron Tyrant into an Infernal machine.

Naturally, when heroes who don't know each other first meet, they fight. Phel-An fought back, with utter innocence.

Phel-An: Are we doing some sort of greeting ritual? Do we now do the Fusion?

And, with communication thus established, Phel-An learned what was going on and switched sides. The Iron Tyrant was defeated, and the Legacy impressed an established Hero.

Protector: Clearly Not My Dad.

Actually, we decided that it was indeed Vanguard and folded in a couple of other bits of history we'd invented.

Nova had once hurt Protector when she lost control of her powers. He got smashed by a combination of power and acceleration.

GM: Do you forgive Starheart?

Protector: I'm my father's son. I'm not important -- it solved the problem.

Nova's player suggested that what happened was that Nova knocked down the city's statue of Vanguard that had been made just after WWII, when Halcyon City thought that Vanguard was dead. My notes are a little unclear about whether the statue fell or vanished, but I think it fell and hit Protector, injuring him.

Someone: Hit by your father!

Someone else: The first time ever.

Vanguard: I never had to.

Someone: He just said that he was disappointed.

We changed that last. Vanguard said something else entirely.

Vanguard: I never liked that thing.

This, of course, we figured, would make Protector feel even worse. That said, Protector had impressed his father, for he and his friends had defeated Iron Tyrant, a villain Protector himself had fought but never managed to take down.

The Legacy had once broken his own rules: Protector had "misbehaved" once with Starheart, at least by his own lights.

The Legacy had also told someone his secret. Nick decided that this someone was Rocky / James, but asked for help figuring out what this secret was. After all, Protector and Vanguard were very open about who they were. What secret could Protector have?

Robert: Actually, Vanguard was a _Nazi_ experiment. He's a blond haired, blue eyed Aryan. But, he was horrified by the Nazis and defected to the USA.

And, the folks who handled Vanguard's defection decided that letting people know this would not be a good idea. Instead, Vanguard was presented as a USA superhero, an example of American Can Do.

Robert: The one lie you told.

Fred: That explains why Vanguard is so uncomfortable with praise.

And it explained why he never liked the statue. It fit beautifully.

Robert: Excuse me -- I just got chills.

He wasn't the only one.

We reviewed Influence. It's not like Strings in Monsterhearts, where one can have a number of Strings on the same person. No, in Masks, Influence is binary. It doesn't stack. You either have Influence over someone or you don't. My notes say that one can always give Influence to those who don't have it. I think Rocky had Influence from Phel-An and Protector.

GM: Now, a very important question: What is your Team Name?

Phel-An: Oh, we are of the Protectors.

Protector may have facepalmed at that.

GM: And who is the leader?

Well, that was obviously Protector. No one could argue with that.

In addition to Influence, there was a Team Pool. It started with one token in it. Anyone can spend 1 Team from the Pool to give +1 on a roll.

And we were ready to being play.

The opening comic book panel showed a busy, bustling street in Halcyon City at its brightest, in the middle of day.

We pan over the scene, and the cars suddenly stop. Other cars smash in front of them.

The villain responsible for this appeared in the next panel, wearing a silly, brightly colored costume. This was the Hourglass, one of the foes of Vanguard.

GM: One of the oldest -- and I do mean _oldest_ -- foes of Vanguard.

He had white hair and was probably in his 80s.

Protector: Oh don't make me hit an old man!

The Hourglass's sand was stopping time. He boasted that it was the Day of the Hourglass's Return!

Someone in the gathering crowd was already taking photos. The team was, of course, quickly aware of the news.

Starheart heard it on her uncle's radio. She was helping him in the shop, her legs under the car she was fixing. Then, there was a glow, her heart responding to the need.

The panel shows: Flick flick flick FWOOSH!

Strata Phel-An's car zipped up.

Phel-An: I saw a decaying one.

Starheart: Aw d*mn, I don't want to hit a geezer!

Rocky was about to shower after a football game. He heard the news as he walked into the locker room. He sighed, then trudged out. Clearly, the shower would have to wait.

Protector was making a speech at school about civic responsibility.

The Hourglass demanded Vanguard face him!

Protector (stepping onto a car): Vanguard's busy. Can I take a message?

So, the Protectors entered battle as a team. This meant:

• +1 if the leader has Influence over all members -- check!
• +1 if everyone has same purpose. Proposed purpose: To stop the Hourglass.

Phel-An: Is that our purpose? Will it be fun?

Someone, probably Protector: YES!

Were we Prepared? Yes! Not being prepared is -1.

GM: Does anyone mistrust the leader?

Someone who isn't Protector: How _could_ we?

If anyone had, that would have been a -1.

So, Nick got +2 to his roll and rolled a 7 for a total of 9. This meant that 2 tokens were added to the Team pool.

The Hourglass was not happy to be confronted by the younger generation.

Hourglass: This isn't what I wanted! Where are the adults? Go home, children!

Protector: Stop acting like a pouty child, and maybe the adults will pay attention to you!

He tried to Provoke the Hourglass and got an 8.

Strata Phel-An: His frown should be turned upside down!

The Hourglass hurled an ampoule at Protector -- but forgot to press the button on it.

Protector caught it. Tres cool.

Hourglass: D*mn!

And he flipped the hourglass on his belt which let him move fast.

Strata Phel-An tried to stop whatever Hourglass was trying to do. I think this involved laser fire in front of the Hourglass. The move Phel-An used was Unleash Power. Alas, the alien hero got a 3!

This was a miss, which meant that the GM could make a Hard Move. It also meant that Fred Marked Potential on the character sheet, Potential being the equivalent of xp.

Brendan noted that the most one could add or subtract to a roll was +3 or -2, on one's own. There was no limit to what one could add by taking tokens from the Team pool, apart from the number of tokens in the pool.

For now, Phel-An had endangered people trapped in their cars.

Phel-An: This does not appear to be the desired effect -- my apologies, Protector Friends.

Hourglass (surprised, but grabbing credit for the sudden turn of events): Ha ha! You've played into my plans!

Phel-An: I _did_ increase his joy!

Rocky: Get him! I'll get the people out of the cars!

Starheart: The people -- The Hourglass -- The people --

The panels showed her looking back and forth, but then, she heard Rocky.

My notes indicate that there was a tsunami / shockwave of light. They also say:

• 1 Burn
• + Freak
• Frozen Air

I'm not sure who got + to Freak, Phel-An or Starheart. I think Starheart. The frozen air was probably due to something the Hourglass did. And someone realized something.

Starheart Directly Engaged with the Hourglass. The player rolled an 11, subtracted 2 for a total of 9, but added one from the Team pool, as Rocky was helping by getting people to safety, for a total of 10+. This meant that Starheart and the Hourglass traded blows, and Robert got to choose two options from a list of four.

Starheart: You're going down, old man!

Starheart's Thought Balloon: Oh God, what did I say?

I'm not sure what the player chose, but something went wrong after that. I think Starheart shattered the Hourglass's time ampoules, either as or causing collateral damage. Time started moving forward and backward crazily, albeit in a very small area.

If I understand my notes correctly, Starheart Took a Powerful Blow. However, the roll to take it was 13, so the player had to choose only one desirable option. The player chose: "You must remove yourself from the situation. Flee, pass out, etc."

The weird time effects had Starheart Trapped!

Hourglass (clearly not having expected this): Uh -- I meant to do that!

But, he himself had taken some damage.

Hourglass: And now, I shall escape, having achieved --

And with that unfinished sentence, he ran away. He had the condition Terrified.

Fred: You're fighting a Golden Age Hero past his prime.

Meanwhile, Rocky was trying to Defend people, so I rolled + Savior, which was 8 - 1 = 7

As this was against an NPC, I think that result meant I could choose a beneficial option, but either Rocky would be exposed to danger or the situation would escalate.

For the beneficial option, I added one token to the Team pool. And, I decided that Rocky would expose himself to danger rather than allow the situation to escalate.

So, Rocky Took a Powerful Blow, and I got something in the 7-9 range. This meant I chose an option from the 7-9 list.

Rocky hunkered down over the last person he dragged out of a car, using his own body to protect the bystander. But, this meant that he Gave Ground, giving his opponent an opportunity. In other words, he couldn't stop the Hourglass from escaping.

Meanwhile, Protector moved to _protect_ Starheart. He took out the ampoule he had snatched when the Hourglass threw it at him.

Protector's Thought Balloon: All I have to do is --

<CLICK> <CLICK>

After a roll, the player needed +1. He got that from the Team pool, but needed to explain how.

Starheart locked eyes with him. My notes mention a wedding or engagement ring. I'm not entirely sure what that was, but I'm guessing that this had to do with the flickering time in the area where Starheart was trapped, and that at one point, she had such a ring on her hand. Given that Protector had done something with Starheart, I'm guessing making out, there was at least an implication that he might be the one who will give her that ring.

Protector pulled Starheart out of the flickering time area. He had Influence over her and used it to shift her Labels, adding one to her Mundane label and subtracting one from her Freak label. Protector wanted to stabilize Starheart and make her feel more normal, which gets interesting because Robert wanted his character being more of a Freak. But, one doesn't choose how one's friends use their Influence, although this is something I'll be bearing in mind when I read the game.

In any case, Starheart was free. She cried on Protector's shoulder.

Later...

GM: Do you have a hang out place?

Flashback:

Protector: Hey, Dad, can I use the Defenders' place?

Vanguard: Sure, Son.

I think we decided that the Defenders' place, which was now the Protectors' place, was under the statue of Vanguard, or, at least, under the place where the statue used to be. I think he and Rocky were working out.

At this point, my notes say:

Or will be or have been. I've already spoken to two of my ancestors and three of my descendents.

I have no idea what that meant, or whether it even pertained to this game.

Protector turned on a media report. The media was calling Phel-An a Danger, and, as the GM explained, adults by default have Influence over the PCs.

And Phel-An's Danger rating went from -1 to 0 as Starheart explained it all to the alien. Phel-An accepted the label. Fred would have had to make a roll if Phel-An had rejected it.

My notes say that someone said, "I wish I could take my heart out." Who? My notes say "N", which could be Nick, or could be the Nova, aka Starheart. I'm guessing the latter.

Starheart was sharing a weakness or vulnerability with Phel-An. This gave Phel-An Influence over Starheart and helped clear a Condition. Someone was feeling less Hopeless after that conversation.

Protector decided that it was time to Assess the Situation. He did this by going to the gym to work out and think. Rocky was also at the gym.

Rocky: You know he's going to be back.

He was talking about the Hourglass, and Protector knew, of course. But, Protector was also worried about his team and how folks were thinking of it.

My notes indicate that he wanted to deal with both the media problem and the Hourglass problem, but Nick rolled a 6, which we could boost to a 7, as Rocky was there for Protector to bounce ideas off.

This meant that Nick could ask one question: How can we end this quickly? Specifically, how can we end the media coming after Strata Phel-An?

GM: You must clearly and definitely make him human and likeable -- show him at the shopping at mall, eating ice cream. Humanize her -- because otherwise, everyone in the city will think of her as that damn glowy alien who wrecks cars.

Protector's Thought Balloon: I have an idea...

Protector looked through all the various offers of an interview on the talk shows.

Protector: I'll only do it if it's my whole team.

This was so as not to make it obvious that he was planning a PR stunt and focusing on humanizing Phel-An.

At the interview, Starheart was still Afraid and Guilty. She had her hair pulled down and was quiet and pulled back. This actually worked with the humanizing move, we realized.

Unfortunately, it was Phel-An who most needed to be humanized. Fred rolled for the move Not So Different After All -- and got a 5.

Phel-An's intent was to say something along the lines of "We all come from a star. We are all of one mind. But, here, you are _all_ stars!"

Unfortunately, on a miss, the Outsider reveals more than was intended.

Interviewer or Audience Member: So are you like a living fusion reactor?

Phel-An: Oh yes, I will tell you all about it!

And, Phel-An let slip the existence of the ship, the Joymobile, so now everyone knew about it!

Questions flew fast and thick. Was there going to be an alien invasion? What was Phel-An -- a walking fusion reactor? Just how dangerous was this creature?

And Rocky grabbed the microphone. When the Bull moves to Defend his Rival or his Love, he rolls +Danger. And Rocky was certainly going to Defend his buddy Phel-An.

Rocky: Um we're all new at this, and Phel-An is newer than us, and we'll all make mistakes -- the point is we're going to do better!

Phel-An's Thought Balloon: I am totally in love with Rocky right now!

And I got a total of 8, which was success at the cost of escalating the situation or Rocky exposing himself to danger.

We were near the end of the time we had, especially as we needed to save time for discussing the game. And, there was a very obvious way that Rocky had exposed himself to danger.

Rocky / James had escaped from the people who had given him his powers. He wore a full face mask, and he avoided talking. But, he had just grabbed the microphone and spoken on a public talk show.

Elsewhere... DING -- Voice Recognition!

Protector took the mic from Rocky, and addressed the audience. I think Nick said he'd throw in a story about things going wrong for his father's team, and talking about the confusion that results in the heat of battle.

Protector: You gotta understand that happens is not necessarily what's intended. The important thing is that the team supported each other and nobody got hurt.

This was true. Sure, cars got damaged, but not people. And Nick got a total of 11 on the roll.

Someone, I think the GM: As the whole team screws up and the team leader says the thing that makes it all better.

And there we closed and went to Roses and Thorns -- what we liked and what we didn't.

Fred: The Freakier I see myself, the _more_ under control my powers are. Having a low Freak means there's more chance of a hard move.

He also noted a Chekhov's Gun that would be on the mantelpiece if this were a continuing campaign.

Fred to Robert: You are Starheart, so at some point, I am going to power your heart!

Robert proclaimed this his favorite *World hack. That said, he noted that there is not enough room for the back history on the character sheet, something I noticed as well, judging from my frantic attempts to scribble it all down. Fortunately, I had my notebooks, which I carry for precisely such purposes.

My notes say "Cleaning up burn" or perhaps "Cleaning up barn". I have no idea what that meant.

At this point, Alden Strock poked his head into the room with a question about Masks.

Alden: Can I play Disney Princess Supers?

Me: Probably.

Brendan: I want to hear all about it if you do!

My only thorn was that we only had a two hour slot for this game. Mind, we got a lot done in those two hours, as you can see from the length of the write up and I can feel from the strong memories I have.

Nick had been hoping that he could have Protector take the Hourglass down, ala "Hourglass, you've got to stop!"

Brendan said that there were two ways to do this. The first is to use the move Pierce the Mask and ask "How could I get your character to...?" The other move is Comfort and Support, though I'm not entirely sure how that would work here.

Nick asked if one could really use these moves on NPCs, and Brendan said yes. NPCs have the same Conditions as PCs.