So You Want to Be a Hero

3 July 2014: 8pm: Masks: So You Want to Be a Hero

GM: Brendan Conway

Players

• Sylvia Rudy
• Me
• Howard Katz
• Danielle

Brendan explained that he was trying to do Young Justice, Buffy / High School as superheroes -- but _not_ a Mutanthearts variation of Monsterhearts.

There were Sidekicks.

There were Masks. Those were the PCs, up and coming superheroes.

Then, there were Paragons, the adults. These could be heroes or villains. Batman, Superman, Professor Xavier, and Magneto are all different types of Paragons.

Normally, the game had 3 Paragons, all of whom were created from scratch. Here, we were going to take 2, slightly remake, and only make the 3rd from scratch. I think we decided not to go with Teacher/Terrorist (Xavier/Magneto), but with Vigilante/Hero (Batman/Superman) for two because otherwise, it would be too easy to slip into the X-Men paradigm, and we wanted to be a little more original.

We started with a hero, and answered various questions.

What makes people call them a hero? The countless lives they save.

Always a hero? What else have they been? Always.

Acting within the law? No, not technically, but few care. (I can't read what I wrote about the police.)

Most public detractor/enemy? A law enforcement agent who wants to paint him as a menace.

Least heroic thing ever done? Unleashing the full extent of their power -- likely covering this up? Or public covered up. Certainly, there was a cover up, and this was not generally known.

LABELS -- Paragons ARE Labels. For Masks, it shifts.

• Embody the Label of Hero
• Deny the Label of Star

Our hero was named Sunstorm, and the actress who played her was Gina Torres. Her costume was in primary colors, open, and benevolent.

Next, we turned to our vigilante.

Why not act within the law? Disdain for the law.

Why act outside the law? Overpowering sense of right and wrong.

Perception -- Positive? Negative? Accurate? Media painted in a harsher light than deserved.

Are they ever likely to stop? Why/why not? What is their code? Never get anyone else involved -- only I equipped to handle this.

LABELS

• Embody: Radical
• Deny: Mundane
• Name: Revenant
• Played by: Lucy Lawless
• Costume: Practical, greys/white.
• Ex-law enforcement

The third we created from scratch, with no canned actors. We looked at the categories available:

Teacher, Politician, Exile, Criminal, Terrorist
Vigilante, Hero, Law, Activist, Citizen
Villain, Mentor, Businessman

We decided on Criminal.

What crimes do they commit? Theft/robberies: High end theft

What do they get out of crime? The thrill, joy

How well known are they? Famous -- with web forums and fandoms? ala Leverage, Dillinger -- only stealing from the rich (or at least, perceived that way). Indie Cult

Were they ever anything besides a criminal? Poor and honest.

What was the biggest crime committed? Wall Street Button

LABELS

• Embody: Star
• Deny: Freak
• Name: The Silver Jaguar
• Played by: Bradley Cooper

In other words:

• Sunstorm: Hero
• Revenant: Vigilante
• Silver Jaguar: Criminal

Someone: The most popular of our three Paragons is the villain.

Next, we turned to the PCs. As with most *World hacks, there are several different Playbooks, aka Skins, aka character templates. Generally, only one person should play any given playbook in a game. The playbooks were:

• The Bull (chosen for this game)
• Nova
• Delinquent (chosen)
• Prince (chosen)
• Inhuman
• Unmarked (chosen)
• Outsider

The stats were the labels mentioned above -- Hero, Star, Radical, Mundane, and Danger are the ones I see immediately below. My notes say:

Labels stat(?) -) Increase any 1 to -1

• Danielle -- Prince
• Sylvia -- Delinquent: -1 Hero +1 Star
• Howard -- Bull: -1 Radical +1 Danger
• Me -- Unmarked: -1 Star +1 Mundane-)+1 Radical

There was a Training and Tech starting move, and my notes say, "More if at +2 or more in a stat -- for as long as you have it."

People were shaped by images, specifically, but the images their teammates had of them.

Howard's character:

• Playbook: Bull
• Mask Name: Bulwark
• Real Name: Michael Chickles (my notes also say "Chuck Jones")
• Age: 17
• With Great Power -- Yeah, I saw the movies.
• Even keeled, politically correct, chivalrous
• Strong as I need to be
• Rapid heal, Durable
• Bully look -- Zorro
• teams, T-shirt -- massive

Sylvia's character

• Playbook: Delinquent
• Mask Name: Smoke (gets in your eyes)
• "Real" Name: "Amber Evans"
• Age: 15
• Grey body suit -- fades out to black and grey at ends
• Small
• Female
• Short cut spikey hair
• Intangible, Illusions, Set on fire
• Where there's smoke, there's fire

My character:

• Playbook: Unmarked
• Mask Name: Elsewhere
• Real Name: Emilio Gonzalez
• Age: 16
• Training
• Stealth
• Machine Control

Danielle's character:

• Playbook: Prince
• Mask Name: Crusader
• Real Name: Ivy Walsh
• Age: 18
• Young Emma Stone
• Not well known
• Not <illegible> to have time out there yet
• (slashed through No Capes!) Removable Cape
• Body suit, <illegible> costume
• Blond
• Primed, trained body
• Studying constantly to be a hero
• Batman/Black Widow

I then have a lot of incomprehensible notes, including:

But mundane important -- no I could not
and not go insane

Nowhere Man -- Oahinoke
Elsewhere -- Crusader
-) Finding Sales -- via tech

Next was the question: What are we as a team?

Were we put together by one of the Paragons? Did Silver Jaguar see us as potential tools? Were we at the same high school? Had we found each other?

We decided to go with having found each other and formed themselves into a team of supers. Their cover was that they were the (entire) membership of The Geology Club.

Elsewhere: But what if others want to join?

Crusader: _Who_ would want to join the Geology Club?

The Gm explained that one gets xp if they act as another PC thinks they should / will. That is, if Bulwark _tells_ Crusader, "You're a Star", the next time, she gets a point when she acts like a Star.

At least at first, any time one Label score went up, another had to go down.

The Paragon who mattered most to the PCs:

• Sunstorm: Crusader, Smoke, Bulwark
• Revenant: Elsewhere

The scene opened on the Geography Club, meeting after school. There was a reported incident of the Silver Jaguar at a big luxury apartment building.

GM: Where does the Geography Club meet?

Bulwark: The basement!

Elsewhere: Outside!

Someone else: A quarry?

We settled on an empty classroom. My notes say, "CMS has a key from teacher." I have no idea who CMS is. I think it was Crusader.

Smoke: Now, if you had a key to the faculty bathroom...

IIRC, folks headed for the Silver Jaguar's location, Smoke arriving first on the roof of the building, I think, hoping to "Smoke him out". Hey, even Spiderman had to start somewhere with the jokes.

Elsewhere tried to use his phone and his abilities to track the Silver Jaguar, but the Jaguar was on to him and caused his phone to lose the visual.

Phone screen (I think): Naughty, naughty, naughty!

Elsewhere: Who you calling naughty?

GM: Your phone does not respond.

Elsewhere: I wasn't talking to my phone -- it's behaving fine.

Smoke found herself facing the Silver Jaguar alone.

Smoke: Hi?

Silver Jaguar (taking in her smoke powers): That's a new trick.

Smoke (noting a mechanical arm, iirc): What does that arm do?

Silver Jaguar: This.

I forget what "this" was, but I am fairly sure it involved him escaping from the roof, possibly by putting Smoke at a disadvantage.

Elsewhere (walking into the building the Silver Jaguar just left): I'm going to use a phone to push the button.

GM: So, you're a 15 year old in a ritzy lobby.

Someone: I think he's a gadgeteer.

Someone Else: Oh my ghod.

I don't recall whether those last two lines were in or out of character, let alone who said them.

Regardless, the students were able to track the Silver Jaguar to a warehouse. At least some of them spotted their quarry.

Bulwark grabbed a manhole cover.

Crusader: Subtle. Nice.

Bulwark: On, right! Mask!

He rectified his oversight. And the fact that he was Dangerous somehow came up. He'd made the manhole cover very heavy, but the Silver Jaguar did something with some device on his arm -- though I'm not sure if my notes mean it was on the Silver Jaguar's arm, or that he'd gotten it onto Bulwark's arm. Either way, Bulwark needed to deal with it and was at a disadvantage.

Elsewhere found himself face to face with the Silver Jaguar, with no idea what to do.

Elsewhere: Can I have an autograph?

Silver Jaguar: Sure.

He signed Elsewhere's phone.

One of Elsewhere's Teammates: Good job.

It was now Crusader's turn to challenge the Silver Jaguar.

Silver Jaguar: Come on! What is this? The teen brigade?

Someone: We're the Study Hall Heroes!

Someone: We're the Geography Club!

Crusader posed with her hand on her hip in a classical hero pose. Just as Elsewhere realized that the Silver Jaguar was vain and susceptible to flattery (however little practical good that had done him), Crusader now realized that the Silver Jaguar wanted a show. She gave him one, doing athletic heroic backflips, and she succeeded in impressing him.

Silver Jaguar: If you ever want a job... (drops his card for her)

Bulwark charged the Silver Jaguar.

Bulwark: He's flirting with her!

GM: He's in awe of her -- he hardly notices you.

I forget whether Bulwark said "Go get him!" to Crusader or she said it to him. Either way, he smiled because she looked his way. The fact that Bulwark is as Strong As He Needs to Be was important.

The Silver Jaguar made it into the warehouse. There was some impressively visible damage from Bulwark outside. And, inside... well, it seemed that the Silver Jaguar had his own submarine at an unsuspected river outlet.

Elsewhere started to use his power to hold the submarine in place, but realized that if he did that, Crusader would flip into the flames. Reluctantly, he let the submarine go.

Now, you may be wondering where the flames came from. They came from Smoke, but I forget why. Regardless, they were endangering everyone in the area.

My notes say:

Flip flames -) 11 -- Destroy anything in my way
Don't mark condition
Make a condition on target -- Afraid
<pre>

I forget who was making a target Afraid, Smoke or someone else. I forget whether the following came from the GM, the Silver Jaguar, or all of us, more or less:

<pre>
Some of you are better than others
Some of you are hotter than others

Things were hot enough that the submarine was practically liquid metal, I think.

Elsewhere: I turn sprinklers on!

I think the following had to do with Bulwark trying to contain the damage:

GM: Let's see if you break the entire pier.

There was a roll of 11.

I forget the context of this: Yes -- Into the flaming warehouse.

Elsewhere tried to boost Bulwark's confidence.

Elsewhere: Can you put the whole warehouse into the water? Come on -- You're a hero!

In other words, Elsewhere was applying the label Hero to Bulwark. Bulwark's player used the mechanics to Protect a Large Area or Group. The actual power for this move is chrome; the moves are about what one does more than how, though not, I think, entirely.

Bulwark: Emilio -- out!

And Emilio / Elsewhere escaped the building. He was furious at Smoke and let her know this in no uncertain terms.

Elsewhere: What kind of a freak sets the building on fire when her friends are inside?

In other words, Elsewhere had given the label Freak to Smoke.

Someone escaped the falling pier, but with an injury.

Smoke was devastated by Elsewhere's words. I think she considered him a closer friend than she considered Crusader or Bulwark.

Someone (Bulwark? The GM?): Smoke, what are you doing?

Smoke: Leaving.

Someone: You're just smoking.

Smoke: Well, no one here wants my help!

Meanwhile, Bulwark caught up with Crusader, who was regaining consciousness. The Silver Jaguar was gone, but had left his business card either in her hand or near by.

Bulwark: Are you okay?

Crusader: He got away.

Bulwark: You can't leave me behind like that -- you are the star of my life.

Crusader acted to prove him wrong, say my notes, but I forget how. She was very uncomfortable at the label of Star.

I think she next had to cheer up Bulwark. Naturally, my notes don't tell me who said what, but here's my best guess.

Bulwark: None of them want me around. I destroy things.

Crusader: You made this happen -- you aren't nothing -- you are a star.

But, it could have been the other way around. Whoever received the Label of Star now increased Star by 1, but had to decrease something else, so decreased Danger.

Bulwark, Crusader, and Elsewhere met back in the classroom where they'd started as the Geography Club.

Either Bulwark or Elsewhere: This didn't work out <something I can't read>.

Crusader: Well, but we all worked together as a team, and I think we should applaud all that.

My notes don't show anyone commenting on the missing Smoke. Elsewhere said that he'd been watching the Silver Jaguar, and that the crack in the criminal's armor was Pride and Vanity.

In any case, the trio agreed that they would do better next time.

Revenant: No, you won't.

No one had noticed Revenant's arrival.

Revenant: You will never do this again -- do you understand?

Crusader: No -- we were trying to help!

Emilio: Er, we did set a building on fire.

Bulwark: Leave her alone!

My notes say Bulwark's player rolled a 12, but I forget what that meant.

Eventually, Revenant left as silently as she had come, but not before she made it very, very clear that she knew exactly who all the students were, with and without their masks.

Someone: I bet she's the Geography teacher, and we don't even know it...

Elsewhere found himself resenting Revenant. As you'll recall, he previously considered her the most important of the Paragons, and he wanted to be like her. But, she was making Crusader feel terrible, and Elsewhere didn't like that. After all, Crusader was the one who'd handled everything just fine, unlike him, and not creating any damage, unlike Bulwark or Smoke -- whom she hadn't bothered to scold (though he didn't know that for sure). And, as he'd asked her and she hadn't answered, just why hadn't Revenant arrested Silver Jaguar? Why waste her time scolding them when she could be arresting an actual criminal? Sure, they'd screwed up, but it was still an interesting question.

Meanwhile, Sunspot spoke on television, saying that she urged the group of unknown masked teenagers to stop and reform. She may have thought they were would be villains, not would be heroes.

Someone: I'm going to keep moping, but I'm turning the brooding up to epic.

Meanwhile, Bulwark texted Smoke.

Bulwark's Text: Smoke -- 'Sup?

Smoke did not answer, I think. Smoke's player said that Smoke thought she was an orphan because she accidentally killed parents -- but added that Smoke might be wrong. My notes do not say what she might have been wrong about.

Smoke: Revenant didn't even talk to me -- she doesn't think I'm worth talking to.

I'm not sure how she learned about Revenant's visit. From Bulwark, perhaps? I don't know if she or someone else said of Revenant, "she thinks we can learn". It looks as if Smoke said it, but if so, I don't understand the context.

My notes say that Elsewhere recovered from fear. They also say:

1 more inf
1 xp

I'm not sure what that means.

My notes say that Smoke pisses "her" off. I am guessing that Crusader is the person made angry by Smoke.

Bulwark (I think) (to Crusader): Without you, we lose the heart of the group.

And he rolled a 13, so his words helped.

Crusader: Everyone here is a hero.

GM: That's a nice try.

My notes say "Target -) B", which probably means that Crusader's player may have been trying to help everyone with her statement, hence the "nice try" comment. But, mechanically, she could only direct her words at one person, and the player decided that this would be Bulwark.

The last scene of the issue showed Revenant in a darkened room. The Silver Jaguar was there.

Revenant: Do you have what I asked you to get?

Silver Jaguar: Yeah, but I'd really appreciate it if you'd get those meddling teens off my back.

He handed her a folder labeled "The Sunstorm Incident". Presumably, this detailed the incident where Sunstorm unleashed her full powers to devastating and not fully heroic effect.

We now did Roses and Thorns

• Me: I like the narrative weight of labels
• Danielle: Archetypes -- cliches and tropes
• Howard: Tie in -- Paragons
• Sylvia: Collaborative aspect -- you can have the story write itself -- creating the universe

• Danielle: Actions are a bit loosey-goosey
• Someone said something about how all got to act -- surely it would have been just 1 or 2 -- but it kept the speed up
• Howard: Looking at character sheet, you're sort of forced to create stuff that isn't true.

Sylvia asked: Do any moves give armor?

GM: Yes.

Someone, probably Sylvia, said that it was good having influences, but constantly shifting stats seemed to take more time than actual actions in the game. There was a question about diversifying injuries, and something about third degree burn vs broken bones.

I said something about presentation of information, and perhaps something about options for images.

We now turned to the images the PCs had of each other.

Crusader:

• Bulwark -- check -- Danger, Loyalty means a great deal to me
• Smoke -- check -- Star, good intentions, no ability to lead
• Elsewhere -- Freak and most innocent -- A mundane who is the brains behind this group

That last was news to me. The brains behind the group? My notes say, "If no, -can- I make one up?" I'm not sure what that meant, but I liked the idea Danielle put in Crusader's head about Elsewhere.

I think "check" meant "my PC's feelings about this PC haven't changed". Or maybe it meant "this is the box I check"?

Bulwark:

• Elsewhere -- check -- Radical, threat
• Smoke -- Radical, I will never follow her -- That's not true -- I followed her. Friend? Jury still out on that.
• Crusader -- check -- Star, who I wish would love me back

Smoke:

• Bulwark -- check -- Too Dangerous
• Crusader -- Star, foolishness -- no xp
• Elsewhere -- leave -- xp

I'm not sure what "no xp" and "xp" meant.

Elsewhere:

• Crusader -- check -- Star, beautiful
• Bulwark -- check -- Hero
• Smoke -- check -- Freak, never follow

Which Mask's words matter most to your PC?

• For Elsewhere, it was Bulwark. Bulwark got +1 Elsewhere.
• For Smoke, it was Elsewhere. Elsewhere got +1 Smoke.
• For Bulwark, it was Crusader. Crusader got +1 Bulwark.
• For Crusader, it was Bulwark. Bulwark got +1 Crusader.

Which Mask's words matter least to your PC?

• Crusader: Smoke
• Bulwark: Smoke
• Smoke: Crusader
• Elsewhere: Smoke

Someone: Do you get extra xp every time a Paragon gives you her card?

I'm guessing that was a joke.

The last scene, the GM said, was inspired by Elsewhere's question to Revenant.

GM: Yeah, why -would- Revenant not capture Silver Jaguar? Ah, he's doing something for her.

GM: Everything in this game is wrong as far as applying a label.

I'm not sure what that meant. My notes also say "Playing with the space" and "Conditions have teeth".

The GM also reminded us that there is a Move called Do the Impossible. This is there so that if players can't think of a way to do something they want to do, they can use it.