Masks: A New Generation (Recruiting more due to attrition, see bump post)

[PixelatedPixie]

A few things to note before you read the rest of the post.
1. I am not extensively familiar with superheroes or comics.  The movies, some video games, a couple of comicbooks, but I am hardly an expert, collector, or anything like that.  So I may miss common tropes, may not understand references, that sort of stuff.
2. Masks: A New Generation is required for this game.  I don't have the system knowledge to assist people who don't have access to the book at the present time.
3. I have never played Masks: A New Generation and will be stumbling along a bit as we go.  I will make mistakes. 
4. I want this to be a game with story and the chance for characters to shine, but I also want to tie sex, and specifically nonconsensual sex, heavily into the plot.
5. I am willing to start this game with a single character, and won't go over five characters to start.  I would prefer characters are women (sorry  :-( ), but am willing to include men as long as the player understands I will struggle a bit with sexual content for them.
6. It will be nonconsensual exotic, and players will need to be comfortable with that.  I will of course respect a player's specific offs, but not being interested in the general subject matter is a no go. 

The basic premise of the game is intended to be the same.  The characters are 16-20 year olds in a city full of authority figures.  The main change I will be making is that the world of superheroes is much darker than anyone on the outside knows.  I want to explore, beyond the normal themes, what happens to a character when she is defeated and how she deals with it and the aftermath.  What happens when a character is experimented on by a mad scientist villain, or left to entertain a crime boss' thugs.  I don't know how common that sort of content will be, but I do want it to be a focus as the story progresses. 

If you are interested please include your preferred Playbook and a bit about the character you have in mind!  Thanks!

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Sounds like a fun time.  Will have to wait until I get paid to buy the book.

[Crasey]

Interested! I do only have free releases, so if there's been more information to be had, then like Pumpkin I'll have to just scrounge some cash together in my pathetic starving-artist life.  :P

EDIT: Oh, but for sexual content, I'm pretty exclusively straight, so by the sounds of this maybe I wouldn't be a good fit? Or are you maybe saying that you prefer characters to be women because you mean to have male villains?

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Is The Bull still in there as a playbook?

[Crasey]

Judging by the playbooks on the site, yup yup.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Mama likes!

[pdragon]

looks interesting, I'd probably join in as "The Doomed"

[PixelatedPixie]

Interested! I do only have free releases, so if there's been more information to be had, then like Pumpkin I'll have to just scrounge some cash together in my pathetic starving-artist life.  :P

EDIT: Oh, but for sexual content, I'm pretty exclusively straight, so by the sounds of this maybe I wouldn't be a good fit? Or are you maybe saying that you prefer characters to be women because you mean to have male villains?

I'm not sure how the kickstarter, free releases, and paid release differ?  But as long as it is enough to play it is probably fine.  It doesn't seem like an overly complicated system, and shares things with Apocalypse World I think. 

I plan to make the villains mostly male (maybe I am sexist  :P ) so my preference is that the content is generally M villain and F character.  F/F and M/M aren't out, but I don't think either are hugely my thing or that I would write them particularly well.  Which was why I included the disclaimer.  I am willing to try but make no promises as to ability.

Is The Bull still in there as a playbook?

It is. 

looks interesting, I'd probably join in as "The Doomed"

Did you have any thoughts as to the character you would like to make with that playbook?

[pdragon]

I was thinking of having a succubus themed heroine. The basic idea is that she started out as a normal young woman, but after some kind of terrible accident (perhaps in the collateral of another hero's climatic showdown) she finds herself on the brink of death, but before she can pass away entirely a voice calls out to her and offers to give her another chance at life. However what she doesn't know at the time was that the voice belonged to a powerful demon, and in exchange for restoring her back to life and giving her a portion of his demonic strength (transmutation, super strength/speed, vitality absorption), the girl unknowingly promised her soul in trade. Now she uses her newly gained powers to fight evil and search for a way to safely break their agreement with her soul intact, though the more she taps into her new powers the more influence the demonic taints starts to have over her (via the doom track mechanic). Her doom in this case would be the demon and his minions coming for her, for while he technically doesn't own her soul until after she dies, there's nothing against him trying to "expedite" that process.

Succubus idea
Succubus idea
human identity

[corvusul86]

This looks interesting -- I played dungeon world once a few years ago, but I've never seen Masks.  Would I need to buy the PDF, or is the free playbook enough?

Looking at the free playbook I've got an idea for a Nova -- she discovered her Gravity powers very young, and spent most of her life trying to hide them after some accidents as a child -- it isn't easy for a toddler to control a fundamental force.  Very restrained, very distant, has trouble relating to people... and very lonely.  She becomes a hero not for some big, noble reason, but just in the hopes of finding other people like her that she can relate to.  That doesn't mean she'll have an easy time opening up, though.

[Crash]

I'll play.

Sorry non-con is a no go for me, at least not as a story focus.  I will withdraw.

[PixelatedPixie]

The free playbook is probably fine as long as you are willing to muddle through things with what help I can provide.  I do want to do a somewhat standard character creation, which involves some back and forth between players and GM, so there certainly should be time to figure things out as we progress.

So far we have interest in a Doomed, Nova, and Bull.  Did you have a thought for what you would want to play Crasey?

[Crasey]

I was looking at Doomed and Outisder, so that helps me settle on the Outsider! Thinking of having ended up on Earth fleeing from my (rather religious) world to escape punishment for apostasy.

[PixelatedPixie]

I have put up an OOC thread here for character discussion and creation (and later for OOC).  The four of you who have expressed interest can post there.  Please do note what I put in the original post.

If anyone else is interested, there is still one slot open.  Please post here if you would like to join.

[RedPhoenix]

This is calling to me. I see you have one more spot. I'm thinking a Janus.

I got the free playbook, hopefully that's enough. If the game takes off I would consider buying the full thing. Don't really wanna do that and the never get to use it though. :3

[PixelatedPixie]

If you would like to join you are welcome to!  Please see the post above yours for the OOC link.

Unless someone drops that will put us at full (which was better than expected) for now.

Hopefully the free playbook is enough, I wouldn't recommend buying a book for a specific online game, so certainly understand the hesitation.  So the goal is to work with people as we go even if it draws things out a bit.

[Meliai]

Awww, dang. I tried to scrounge up interest in Masks a couple months ago without much luck, but obviously noticed this thread too late. If you happen to have someone drop I'd love to play.

[Crasey]

And just like that I got a call about some serious real-life matters and I think I should drop out. So have at it, Meliai.  :P

[Pink Kitten]

Aw, dang! This looks super interesting, but it appears I noticed it too late :-) Mark me down as a potential substitute, I guess!

[Raveled]

I'm going to stick around and watch. Not sure if it's my thing exactly, but I'm going to watch for awhile.

[Meliai]

Sorry to hear that Crasey! Hopefully it's nothing to dire and all gets straightened out soon.

If PerpetuallyAnnoyedCleric is okay with me subbing in, I'm debating between a Legacy whose powers don't run through a family but are passed down by a sort of godspark that is given to a new host when its previous bearer dies or prooves themselves unworthy somehow, and an Outsider who's sort of your classic alien princess, sent away from her home planet for safe keeping as they're currently at war with a terrible conquering alien empire.

[PixelatedPixie]

If Crasey is unable to join then you are certainly welcome to Meliai.  Either character idea would work, both sound interesting!

Sorry life is getting in the way Crasey, but thank you for letting me know.

I will keep you in mind if anyone drops Pink Kitten!

[Nastara]

I freaking LOVE Masks!

Couple little quick points!  The playbooks, moves, and GM materials from the Magpie Games website are the officially updated versions!  There are a couple of other playbooks from an upcoming supplement that have been released to backers, but I don't think those are available yet!  Running Masks I've found that players often don't need the books; the basic moves cover the core of what being a player is!

I'll be eagerly watching this thread even though I'm not able to be in it! I run a *lot* of Masks and would be happy to consult on rules if you ever felt lost or confused on anything!

[PixelatedPixie]

Thank you for the offer!  I may take you up on that.

[GunmetalDreamer]

Feel kinda bad I missed this one, very much up my alley.

Have fun, folks, I may voyeuristically stalk you for a while.

[PixelatedPixie]

New Recruitment Post

Unfortunately the game is down to two players at the moment, and the system really needs more than that.  So I am looking for 2-4 more players to join in.  Please read the first post for more information on the game.

The Nova and Doomed are taken, otherwise any of the playbooks are open (including the Halcyon City Herald ones).  Please post if interested!

[Peanuts]

Hrmmm, non-con focussed Masks game eh? Sounds interesting, let me think about what I'd like to play... This idea makes me think of Empowered, it's a fun, sexy comic where uhh, the main heroine is usually the butt of the joke as she's developed a reputation for getting captured/tied up by the villains, hehe. It's actually a lot deeper, or at least it becomes deeper as it goes, with a lot of kinky fun along the way (though nothing real explicit).

Maybe either a plucky Beacon, or a slightly clueless Outsider who doesn't realize she shouldn't be enjoying herself so much when she gets captured :P

[Eobelle]

I too am interested in this, as my other games seem to have ground to a halt.  Also, I love PBtA games, though I haven't played this particular one.

[GunmetalDreamer]

Ha ha!  I missed this the first time out, but now I'm here!

Expect a Protege soon.

[GunmetalDreamer]

Hero Name:  Quarrel
Real Name:  Cassandra Morris
Playbook:  Protégé


Look:  White Woman, Athletic, School Uniform, Simple Costume

Abilities:  You are someone’s Protégé.  Your powers largely mimic theirs, but each of you is in some way unique.  Pick one ability you both share, and one ability for each of you that is uniquely yours.

     Shared Ability:  Weapons and Gadgets
     Your Own Ability:  Hacking
     Your Mentor’s Ability:  Stealth

Mentor:  You have a mentor, someone who’s taught you, trained you, given you aid, or raised you up.  Someone who might have confined you a bit too rigidly to a single path.  Which Label do they embody, and why do they deny?

     Embodies:  Danger
     Denies:  Mundane



Labels:
     Danger  +0
     Freak  +0
     Savior +1
     Superior  +2
     Mundane  +0

Protégé Moves
     Been Reading the Files:  You’ve learned about the superhuman world through your mentor’s resources.  When you first encounter an important super powered phenomenon (your call) roll +Superior.  On a hit, tell the team one important detail you’ve learned from your studies.  The GM will tell you what, if anything, seems different from what you remember.  On a 10+ ask the GM a follow-up question, they will answer it honestly.  On a miss, the situation is well outside your base of knowledge; the GM will tell you why.

     Fireside Chat:  When you seek advice from your mentor, roll +Danger.  On a hit they will tell you what to do.  On a 10+, mark potential if you follow their advice, and take +1 ongoing to follow through.  On a 7-9, you get +1 forward to see it through if you do it their way.  On a miss, they don’t have time for you because something big has gone down; mark a condition, GM’s choice.

     Be Mindful of Your Surroundings:  When you Assess the Situation before entering into a fight, you may ask one additional question, even on a miss.

Mentor’s Resources
Choose up to three resources that your mentor gave you and the team:
     A hidden base, a supercomputer, a med lab

Backstory

     How did you first meet your mentor?
“The first time I met Slayer?  Huhn, that takes me back, it feels like a lifetime ago.  It was the Sadie Hawkins dance of my junior year at Edgewood High.  I didn’t even know how ignorant I was of the things that happen in the world when the sun goes down, I was just another girl back then.  Maybe you saw it, the way the moon turned red, the unscheduled lunar eclipse as it lingered at the apex of the sky?  Something was trying to push through into our world that night … but the door it had to open was the kind that had to be opened form our side.  A group of occultists sealed off the gym, I remember the red glow of the seal, the panic as me and my fellow students saw these silvery white threads rising up out of our chests, being drawn to a central point, I remember losing the strength to stand, so many of us falling asleep as our living essence was drawn out one mote at a time.  Even as my fingers went numb, as the cold began to spread, I remember fighting to keep my eyes open … whatever happened I was determined not to try and hide from it.  Ha.  Stupid, foolish, desperate pride, scraping to find any kind of dignity in death.

I’m glad I did it though.  It’s how I saw him.

Slayer isn’t particularly well known as capes in this town go.  I know I didn’t recognize him when that black sword hacked through the seal, shattering it like a pane of stained glass.  I mean, really, how many bronze-agers in all-black costumes are out there?  They all kind of bleed together.  Still … I’ll never forget the way he moved that night.  It was like he stepped in and out of phase with reality, shadows drinking him up before he’d silently reappear somewhere he couldn’t have possibly have gotten without dashing.  But still, the way he moved was rote, quick, sure, and made smoothly as if his blade wasn’t cutting through cultists with every stroke.  There was no blood, people collapsed silently, but only acrid, dark green smoke billowed out of their robes … and the silver threads untangled, slowly drawing back towards their owners.

I was just starting to get feeling back in my limbs when he got towards the leader of the ritual, who seemed to draw green flames out of nothing, parting the veil of reality with a lacquered finger nail and scooping out baleful flames with the rest of his hand.  Slayer tackled him through the double doors towards the locker rooms to get the rest of us out of the line of fire.  By the time I could stand up again, both men were gone.”

     When and why did you choose to train with them?
“After the dance, it was like someone had torn a veil off of my eyes.  I was … absolutely terrified at first.  Like, if something like that could happen once, it could happen again, and I was sure that I’d somehow been marked by the ritual.  That’s not uncommon for people who have a sudden brush with extreme situations, really.  I felt stalked, so I stayed inside.  In my tiny, defensible little house, where nothing could find me.

Then, I got sick of hiding.  I had to claw back control over my life.  I had to cope, and the best solution I could come up with was to study.  God, I made so many mistakes back then … if you don’t know what you’re looking for, speculative fiction, reality, and straight up bullshit can all seem entirely plausible.  I got suckered into conspiracy theories, forums about cryptids, bought first editions of new age mumbo jumbo … but there was one thing I knew was real.  Slayer, the man who’d saved me.  Keeping abreast of his activities, as hard as it was, provided my rambling attempts to understand the supernatural a kind of “magnetic north”, a reference point that I could keep coming back to.

I didn’t really set out to be trained by him.  I didn’t think he’d consider me worth the effort.  Still, I set out to follow in his footsteps.  Cassandra Morris, teenaged monster hunter.  Ha ha, yeah, I know it sounds kind of dumb, but remember that I wasn’t entirely in my right mind at the time.”


     Why did they agree to train you?
“Well, when you work in a fairly narrow field, it’s kind of inevitable that you’re going to run into your peers from time to time.  Or their handy work, at the very least.  I’d had some successes at this point … banished a few ghosts, killed a few predatory monsters, befriended an amateur witch, saved a family from an old townhouse that (no lie) sucked itself into a hellish dimension trying to claim their souls.  Maybe I’d gotten a little over confident, riding high on my successes.  There’d been a sharp rise in disappearances in the city … scraping just a little below the surface let me attribute it to vampire attacks.  I didn’t know enough about their feeding patterns though, couldn’t deduce just how many of them had moved into town.  Even after killing three of them, I didn’t surmise that a master vampire and its coterie had moved into town, not until after six newly risen blood suckers cornered me on a roof top and dragged me away.

Yeah, dragged me away, didn’t eat me.  It seemed like Lady SaraBeth Lafoe of the French Quarter was the sort who liked turning fledgling vampire hunters.  The perversity of twisting someone so wholly against their purpose aside, it tended to net her capable servants who were already comfortable with stalking prey and combat.  So it was, in a manner far more sexually charged than it needed to be, she sucked me nearly dry and gave up just enough of her own blood back to kickstart my heart again.

I … don’t remember what followed particularly clearly.  I remember being hungry mostly … not just bodily, but like my very soul was crying out to be filled.  I wasn’t really in control of myself though, no one under the hell of a master vampire really is, but it’s not like I was outside of my body or anything.  It was more like my thoughts were cloudy, and when she told me something, it snapped to a rigid clarity.  I could determine my own means, but there was no doubt that I was going to perform.  She … whiled away the time with her new toy for a few nights … but I didn’t get fed.  No, she had someone in mind for that first meal.

That was the second time I met Slayer.  Maybe the first, face to face, if you want to count it that way.  I could hear the heavy, bassy thud of his heart in his chest, the rush of blood in his system.  I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything as much as I wanted him right that second.  We fought, him quietly, me somewhere between feral need and joy at the thought of filling that emptiness inside me.  He was the better fighter, easily, but I was running on inhuman reflexes and strength and … well, I preferred a ranged approach, which made it tricky for him to close.  I creased him with a shot, and when the metallic bite of fresh blood hit my nose, I lost what little self-control I’d had left.  I lunged for him, and he hit me with something as he moved out from under my fingers like smoke, injected me with something.

So, fun fact for those of you at home, apparently vampirism can be cured … you just have to get the victim before they feed.  LaFoe had apparently been banking on that, the fact that I could be saved, to try and stall Slayer’s hand instead of just decapitating me like he had her other hounds.  Of course, she’d slipped away in the scuffle … and Slayer couldn’t just leave me there.  Without the supernatural blood keeping my body moving, I was dangerously low on blood.

When I came to, I was hooked up to an IV in some old, gothic-looking structure.  Slayer was watching over me, fingers steepled in front of his masked face as if he’d been considering something for a long while.  When I turned my head to look at him, all pale and weak … well, he offered me a job as his “Squire”.”

    Who else, outside of the team, knows about your training?
“There are a few people who know that Slayer’s taken on an apprentice.  Slayer received his own training from a secretive order of monster slayers that date back to the Victorian era, the Knights of St. Cameron.  I’m not high enough in the ranks to know more than the basics of the order … supposedly, they were founded during the Victorian Era, spurned to action by human experimentation creating things like the Invisible Man and Mr. Hyde.  The way they put it, someone had to strive against people ‘twisting man against his better nature’, it was only with the boom of Occultism is the 20’s that really put them on the track of the supernatural.  When I became Slayer’s squire, my name was added to the roster, though I’ve yet to meet any of my contemporaries.


Other than that, well, my godfather Alexander Beaumont knows what I’ve been up to.  He was an army medic once upon a time, and is the guy who taught me how to shoot a crossbow in the first place … the first time I got hurt on the hunt, I couldn’t think of anyone else to turn to.  I had enough evidence that he didn’t rat me out to my parents … the thought that I’m working with someone more experienced has eased his conscience somewhat.  Still, he worries about Slayer “warping” my perspective of the world … he is kind of intense, I guess.”

     Why do you care so much about the team?
“The team is great.  I mean, outside of the whole ‘this is a dangerous career, so consolidating power and having someone watch your back are conducive to making it in the long term’ way.  Slayer’s taught me a lot, I’m indebted to him, but our relationship is definitely one of Master and Student.  On the team, I’m an equal voice, I can have my ideas heard, you know?  Besides which, the boss is devoted to the mission to kind of a scarily obsessive extent, he doesn’t really have a life outside of the work.  Having a sideline where I deal with human problems, well, I feel like it keeps me grounded, you know?  Like, it keeps me from losing sight of my own humanity.” 

[PixelatedPixie]

Peanuts
She could be fun!  Though I will say I don't want to get too much towards comedy (not to say that is how you envisioned it, but just from the metion of Empowered).  But if you want to toss something together for her we could probably make it work. :-)

Both Beacon and Outsider are open.

Eobelle
I never really recommend buying a system for an online game (just because of how often they die.  This one has stumbled several times).  PBtA is a reference to the other systems it shares the rules with? (Apocalypse World?)  I haven't played any of the others, and I'll admit I am still wrapping my head around some of it, but it is definitely interesting and not quite as slow as roll focused games can be.

GunmetalDreamer
She looks good!  Please post her in the characters thread, and feel free to post in the OOC thread to start sorting out any connections.
OOC: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=271353.0
Characters: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=271909.0

[Eobelle]

Peanuts
She could be fun!  Though I will say I don't want to get too much towards comedy (not to say that is how you envisioned it, but just from the metion of Empowered).  But if you want to toss something together for her we could probably make it work. :-)

Both Beacon and Outsider are open.

Eobelle
I never really recommend buying a system for an online game (just because of how often they die.  This one has stumbled several times).  PBtA is a reference to the other systems it shares the rules with? (Apocalypse World?)  I haven't played any of the others, and I'll admit I am still wrapping my head around some of it, but it is definitely interesting and not quite as slow as roll focused games can be.

GunmetalDreamer
She looks good!  Please post her in the characters thread, and feel free to post in the OOC thread to start sorting out any connections.
OOC: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=271353.0
Characters: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=271909.0

PTbA stands for "Powered by the Apocalypse"... and yeah it is a reference to Apocalypse world (probably my favorite RPG system ever).

[Peanuts]

Yeah Apocalypse world is pretty great :) There are quite a lot of PbtA games out there now, it's such an easy system to mod/hack.

@PAC Yeah no, wasn't intending to make a comedy character. Will start work on a beacon I think.

[schnookums]

This looks pretty awesome...is there still room for one more?

[GunmetalDreamer]

You'd be the forth to express interest.  I imagine you should be good to press forward.

[PixelatedPixie]

PTbA stands for "Powered by the Apocalypse"... and yeah it is a reference to Apocalypse world (probably my favorite RPG system ever).

I haven't played Apocalypse World, though I think I have the book somewhere.

This looks pretty awesome...is there still room for one more?

If you have a concept I would be happy to hear it. :-)  There should be room. 

Yeah Apocalypse world is pretty great :) There are quite a lot of PbtA games out there now, it's such an easy system to mod/hack.

@PAC Yeah no, wasn't intending to make a comedy character. Will start work on a beacon I think.

Sounds good. :-)

[schnookums]

Ugh, I've got so many ideas that option paralysis has kicked in.

[Eobelle]

I think I'm going to have my hands full with other games, and I don't want to spread myself too thin.  So I'm going to back out of this one, but I'm gonna keep my eye on it, just incase.