Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Thanqol
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Thanqol

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I'm not an idiot, Black. I know there are bad men in power and the world is not an equitable place -- but you can't throw morality in the garbage just because life's tough!

- Superman

Resurrection Roundabout


A game of Masks

Old thread: forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?57…

STARRING
PhoeKun as Errant
Raz_Fox as @Sarahphim
Eldest as Ferra
Balmas as Brainstorm

The year is 200X. It is the future.

For almost a century the world felt like it was on the brink of annihilation. Its defenders were legends, of course - paragons who through courage and sacrifice saved humanity from the worst the universe had to offer. Statues were built in their honour, and Neo Halcyon City has holidays to remember them by. But that was then. This is now. All the legends are dead or old enough to be thinking about being dead and it's time to hand off power.

The question is who they're going to be handing it off to.

So ever seen that episode of [url=http://"onlyjusticeleague.blogspot.com/2012/1…"]Justice League[/url] where they go to the future and Batman is [url=http://"youtube.com/watch?v=PETk8eBbfN0"]old[/url]? That's the kind of vibe that I want here.

Over time tech has proliferated. What used to be a C-list supervillain weapon is a civilian sidearm, and while unleashing a giant killer robot on downtown Halcyon is still the supervillain equivalent of 'hello world' the police response comes in armed mechas rather than cop cars and pistols. Metahuman based corporations, both hero and villain founded, have effectively rendered the governments of the world obsolete as a problem solving engine.

Security is... patchy as a result.

Some areas are perfectly safe utopias with around the clock metahuman defense. Some areas are the wild west. If you're in the wrong part of town and you run into the wrong kind of guy all you can do is hope for one of those rare few superheroes who still do things the old fashioned way.

*

So, welcome to Masks! Before we get started I just want to have a chat about genre assumptions. Superheroics can be done in a billion different ways but the same ideals need to be consistent throughout the story, so everyone pitch in with what superheroics means to you. While I get to set the game's initial aesthetic, the specific themes and setting rules depend on the players and the characters.

My baseline assumptions look like this:

- Superheroes don't kill. This is the definitive feature of a superhero to me. Without it it's a totally different genre. I mean, I am totally prepared to extend the courtesy of ridiculous A-team style escapes from spectacularly exploded helicopters or use robots as a chance for people to cut loose. But if you're going to take a life it's going to be totally deliberate and quite possibly the end of your character's story.

As a little side note to that, I will try to avoid having villains who are so reprehensible that killing them would be the objectively correct move.

- This is a superhuman society. We're well beyond the point of hiding it, it's a fact of life. There are superhuman TV shows, cage fights, statues in the streets. Society is shifted accordingly. There's no government around to enforce any registration or mandatory training programs, and there's no central Justice League co-ordinating hero efforts globally. There are a bunch of smaller groups who look after specific areas, either as vigilantes, corporate authorities, or otherwise. Some of these organizations are unironically good - think, like, Batman successfully turning Wayne Enterprises into the supplier for the Gotham PD. But they are territorial and limited in scope and there are entire areas that are poorly protected.

- You have the potential to be the best. You're certainly not there yet, but you are the kind of people who might one day throw down for the fate of the world. You may or may not know and/or believe this in character.

I've set the game in a cyberpunk-adjacent setting, but that's mostly aesthetics at this point - as a MC I have very limited ability to set themes in advance. If nobody picks a playbook that engages with that directly then it really won't come up that much. My villains will be designed as rogues galleries specific to each player character so questions like 'are there evil megacorps?' are mostly going to be answered by 'is the existence of an evil megacorp relevant to anyone?'

Bonus AMV playlist for inspiration:

[url=http://"youtu.be/hy7QZT4one0"]Superhero Intervention[/url]
[url=http://"youtu.be/iJHASLCXA-w"]Lucky Strike[/url]
[url=http://"youtu.be/gUjeFa5kS1Q"]Killing 'Cause I'm Hungry[/url]
[url=http://"youtu.be/fuMnHItjNEs"]Across the Line[/url]
[url=http://"youtu.be/XkEXZK9V3qk"]ZXC741ASD852QWE963[/url]
[url=http://"youtu.be/fTcqdlSrE9g"]Little B AKAdemia[/url]
[url=http://"youtu.be/AJYmDlt8ZiI"]Invincible[/url]
[url=http://"youtu.be/mzqssCrKq6I"]Put Ya Guns On![/url]
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by TheAmishPirate
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TheAmishPirate Horse-Drawn Tabletop

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Euna status: Very Good
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Phoe
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Phoe Idol Obsessive

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I went ahead and added the immediate context for my opening scene as a spoiler at the top of my post. If you forgot what was happening just before everything exploded and we started drifting across space, time, and the internet, there you go. Does feel good to be writing for this game again
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by TheAmishPirate
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I went ahead and added the immediate context for my opening scene as a spoiler at the top of my post. If you forgot what was happening just before everything exploded and we started drifting across space, time, and the internet, there you go. Does feel good to be writing for this game again


Now that I've read the full context, a clarification:

Euna status: Very Good

Heart status: Very Ouch
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Thanqol
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Quick note - I have no comms on Eldest so we'll have to wait for the old forums to come back to re-invite her.

Eldest, once you're here, we'll have words about what scene to drop you in on! Hopefully I'll get your Discord so we can avoid this happening again.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Anarion
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The @Sarasylph post was an emotional rollercoaster.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Balmas
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I could be wrong, but I think that's either my 4th or 5th XP. Anybody else remember whether I'm leveling up or not?
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Phoe
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I could be wrong, but I think that's either my 4th or 5th XP. Anybody else remember whether I'm leveling up or not?


hahaha, you are very funny. I barely remember which playbook everybody is at this point...
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Tatterdemalion
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<Snipped quote by Balmas>

hahaha, you are very funny. I barely remember which playbook everybody is at this point...


It’s very simple.

Sara is the Lantern, Euna is the Heir (to AEGIS), Victor is the Tinker and Ferra is the Construct.

Geez, how is that easy to forget?
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Balmas
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Sorry for inactivity. I've been fighitng a nasty cold for the past few days and will try to get something up later today
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Thanqol
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Sorry for inactivity. I've been fighitng a nasty cold for the past few days and will try to get something up later today


Dang. Feel better soon!
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by eldest
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Embodying "Superheroes are there to protect and help others" to shift superior up to a -1 and freak down to a 0. Then trying to provoke, and getting a 6 with the -1. Sadness. Potential at least?
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Tatterdemalion
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This is one of those moments where you look the MC in the eye and wait for him to dare to suggest making a roll.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Tatterdemalion
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I posted a lame post and then I made it better with the edit function, btw
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Thanqol
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This is about the time for Victor's moment of truth!
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