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Pththya-lyi: Nov 8, 2009; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2020

My Monsterhearts game involves an insane asylum where they're doing it old school. I hope for my players to end up in the tranquilizer chair at some point:

So I'm working on a custom move. How's this?

When you are trapped in the tranquilizer chair, roll Volatile. On a 10+, carry one forward on your next action while in the asylum. On a 7-9, carry one forward, but gain the Condition Tranquil. On a miss, gain the Condition Tranquil.

# ? Sep 17, 2015 17:51

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# ? May 14, 2024 18:31

Meinberg: Oct 9, 2011; inspired by but legally distinct from CATS (2019)

Pththya-lyi posted:

My Monsterhearts game involves an insane asylum where they're doing it old school. I hope for my players to end up in the tranquilizer chair at some point:

So I'm working on a custom move. How's this?

When you are trapped in the tranquilizer chair, roll Volatile. On a 10+, carry one forward on your next action while in the asylum. On a 7-9, carry one forward, but gain the Condition Tranquil. On a miss, gain the Condition Tranquil.

I'm not sure if I'd go with Volatile myself. Getting exposed to a tranquilizer chair and then getting insight into how to act in the future seem like a +Dark thing to me.

# ? Sep 17, 2015 18:12

Lurks With Wolves: Jan 14, 2013; At least I don't dance with them, right?

Pththya-lyi posted:

My Monsterhearts game involves an insane asylum where they're doing it old school. I hope for my players to end up in the tranquilizer chair at some point:

So I'm working on a custom move. How's this?

When you are trapped in the tranquilizer chair, roll Volatile. On a 10+, carry one forward on your next action while in the asylum. On a 7-9, carry one forward, but gain the Condition Tranquil. On a miss, gain the Condition Tranquil.

Could you go into the intended fiction behind what this move does? Because something about this move isn't quite clicking for me, and I think it's the rewards. I do get what you're going for when you have this be a Volatile roll, though.

Also, just want to say that, even though I don't quite like it, it should be good enough for a little one-off move in your personal game.

# ? Sep 17, 2015 18:32

Flavivirus: Dec 14, 2011; The next stage of evolution.

Dareon posted:

Is there any AW hack that does "Settlers in a new land" well? Fantasy, historical, or sci-fi, doesn't entirely matter (Although my thought was originally sci-fi). Just, like, you have among the playbooks merchants and administrators, but there's still a need for explorers and fighters as well. Basic AW will work, but if there's something with a better fit, I'd be interested in knowing.

Not to be all IN MY GAME, but Legacy: Echoes of the Fall does this pretty well I'd like to say. Its basic setup is that you're families of survivors rebuilding civilisation after the apocalypse, but I could also see you as explorers of a new planet/continent/dimension. Each player controls a family of survivors/colonists as well as a character sent out from that family into the strange world outside of the family's territory to fix an issue of theirs, so it definitely provides the play balance you're looking for. As a bonus it also has rules for how the world and each family changes over generations, so you can play the colony's growth from small isolated settlements to a grand civilisation full of marvels.

# ? Sep 17, 2015 19:17

Cyphoderus: Apr 21, 2010; I'll have you know, foxes have the finest call in nature

Hugoon Chavez posted:

I'm running AW this weekend and I think I had a cool idea for the setting:

It�s based around the golden gate bridge, although they don�t know it yet. San Francisco is in ruins, the BloodGate bridge is populated by a powerful warlord and his lackeys (having built a shanty town that extends to the bottom of the bridge) and there�s a precarious network of roads built on top of big metal spikes crossing over the water, a pirate stronghold amongst said roads that resists BloodGate, and a bunch of settlements around the bay that pay tribute to one or the other.

Oh, and the water bursts into loving flames every nightfall. There�s something weird going on that causes the highly gasoline-polluted water to start burning every night.

These are the questions I�m going to ask my players, and I was wondering if Goons could think of more questions to add to the list.

-What inhabits the ruins of the nearby city that make settling in a lethal idea?
-Who�s Bloodgate�s leader? what�s he/she like?
-What�s the external threat that worries the min-ds of the Firewater Bay settlers?
-What�s the internal threat that grows, hidden, in Firewater Bay?
-What�s the barter system in the Bay like?

You might want to include NPC-related questions to start building interesting relationships form the get-go. Things like,
"Why is Spike's Girls important?" And, once somone's answered, "Okay, why does she hate you then?"
"Exactly what were you doing with Dozer for the two hours you spent together last week under the bridge?"
"Who was the last one of you to see Rolfball? He's been missing for two weeks now."

Some of the questions you have right now are things that are going to be answered anyway through play; use questions to create new, interesting, weird situations.

Cyphoderus fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Sep 17, 2015

# ? Sep 17, 2015 19:24

homullus: Mar 27, 2009

Flavivirus posted:

Not to be all IN MY GAME, but Legacy: Echoes of the Fall does this pretty well I'd like to say. Its basic setup is that you're families of survivors rebuilding civilisation after the apocalypse, but I could also see you as explorers of a new planet/continent/dimension. Each player controls a family of survivors/colonists as well as a character sent out from that family into the strange world outside of the family's territory to fix an issue of theirs, so it definitely provides the play balance you're looking for. As a bonus it also has rules for how the world and each family changes over generations, so you can play the colony's growth from small isolated settlements to a grand civilisation full of marvels.

Not to be all IN HIS GAME, but I agree that Legacy would do "settlers in a new land" very well. I would choose it for an Alpha Centauri game or a Battlestar Galactica game, for example.

# ? Sep 17, 2015 19:47

QuantumNinja: Mar 8, 2013; Trust me.
I pretend to be a ninja.

Hugoon Chavez posted:

I'm running AW this weekend and I think I had a cool idea for the setting:

It�s based around the golden gate bridge, although they don�t know it yet. San Francisco is in ruins, the BloodGate bridge is populated by a powerful warlord and his lackeys (having built a shanty town that extends to the bottom of the bridge) and there�s a precarious network of roads built on top of big metal spikes crossing over the water, a pirate stronghold amongst said roads that resists BloodGate, and a bunch of settlements around the bay that pay tribute to one or the other.

Oh, and the water bursts into loving flames every nightfall. There�s something weird going on that causes the highly gasoline-polluted water to start burning every night.

These are the questions I�m going to ask my players, and I was wondering if Goons could think of more questions to add to the list.

-What inhabits the ruins of the nearby city that make settling in a lethal idea?
-Who�s Bloodgate�s leader? what�s he/she like?
-What�s the external threat that worries the min-ds of the Firewater Bay settlers?
-What�s the internal threat that grows, hidden, in Firewater Bay?
-What�s the barter system in the Bay like?

In general, for AW questions, I wrote this list and posted it in the AW thread:

QuantumNinja posted:

What are the scarcities? (Everybody at the table should name something that's hard to get.)

Where does the game take place?

Is it static? Do you stay put or move around?

What's the climate like?

What are risks from the world itself, from nature?

How supernatural is the world? Game of Thrones or Silent Hill?

How in-the-know are your characters? How well do the handle the Weird? (See playbooks; this is about baseline in-the-know, not specialized.)

How localized is the weirdness?

How hard is travel?

What isn't scarce? What could I expect to walk into any hardhold and find if I have the jingle? (Everyone, again, should name something.)

Did you have lives before the apocalypse? A memory of it?

How reliable is the narrative?

For the world?

For your characters?

Is time linear?

For the world?

For your characters?

What about other weirdness?

Are there mutants and poo poo?

Is there hardcore futuretech?

What is the default weirdness level?

Are we going Gene Wolf with the narrative, or should I tell you if what you found is a toaster?

What survives of the old world?

Is there anything you want for sure to be in the game we haven't gotten to, or for sure forbid?

What of the things mentioned should we nail down right now?

They're mostly derived from the apocalypse-building session that Adam Koebel did with Roll20 recently. I think not all will fit with your boot-strap, but some certainly will. I find the scarcity and plenty questions really inspire players, and they name crazy things (like batteries and chocolates for things you can't find, and wood and personal space for things you can).

Also, I find most of the best AW games involve getting everyone around a table and destroying the world together. Giving people personal boons in the poo poo that's gone sideways or weird or nightmarish is cool.

QuantumNinja fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Sep 17, 2015

# ? Sep 17, 2015 20:10

Hugoon Chavez: Nov 4, 2011; THUNDERDOME LOSER

Captain Foo posted:

awww yeeeah

Awesome! My play area is a lot smaller and the idea is to cloud the fact that it's San Francisco until they actually start placing their eyes in the city.

QuantumNinja posted:

In general, for AW questions, I wrote this list and posted it in the AW thread:

That's a solid set of questions, I'll use the scarcity and plenty questions for sure!

Cyphoderus posted:

You might want to include NPC-related questions to start building interesting relationships form the get-go.

Good call, I'll make sure to think a few of those as well!

Dareon posted:

Is there any AW hack that does "Settlers in a new land" well? Fantasy, historical, or sci-fi, doesn't entirely matter (Although my thought was originally sci-fi). Just, like, you have among the playbooks merchants and administrators, but there's still a need for explorers and fighters as well. Basic AW will work, but if there's something with a better fit, I'd be interested in knowing.

I'd third Legacy, it's a pretty sweet game and will work wonderfully for what you want with a little bit of tweaking.

# ? Sep 18, 2015 08:18

Pththya-lyi: Nov 8, 2009; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2020

Meinberg posted:

I'm not sure if I'd go with Volatile myself. Getting exposed to a tranquilizer chair and then getting insight into how to act in the future seem like a +Dark thing to me.

Lurks With Wolves posted:

Could you go into the intended fiction behind what this move does? Because something about this move isn't quite clicking for me, and I think it's the rewards. I do get what you're going for when you have this be a Volatile roll, though.

Also, just want to say that, even though I don't quite like it, it should be good enough for a little one-off move in your personal game.

The PCs are fighting against a psychic entity that inhabits an old 19th-century asylum. The entity is trying to help people by making them Tranquil - Tranquil people act according to the 19th-century ideals of industry (industriousness), temperance, and middle-class respectability. Basically, they go around all day singing hymns and eating unsweetened bran. Rolling Volatile represents the PC's stubborn resistance to the entity's brainwashing. (It's worth noting that the tranquilizer chair is a bit of an anachronism, but I'm going for horror and control, not 100% historical accuracy.)

# ? Sep 18, 2015 15:39

Shoombo: Jan 1, 2013

Stupid monsterhearts and its treating character like stolen cars. I ran the first session of a game today and we had an npc in the class who was an art student named Mohammad Dali, and he got loving murdered. That is one of the greatest names I've ever heard and I had to kill him.

# ? Sep 27, 2015 07:09

Golden Bee: Dec 24, 2009; I came here to chew bubblegum and quote 'They Live', and I'm... at an impasse.

Loki_XLII posted:

Stupid monsterhearts and its treating character like stolen cars. I ran the first session of a game today and we had an npc in the class who was an art student named Mohammad Dali, and he got loving murdered. That is one of the greatest names I've ever heard and I had to kill him.

I'll create a Mohammad Dali in solidarity.

# ? Sep 27, 2015 18:16

Evil Mastermind: Apr 28, 2008

I'm going to go ahead and multiquote myself from the KS thread because y'all need to get up on this.

Evil Mastermind posted:

Magpie Games (the folks behind Urban Shadows) just sort-of* launched the kickstarter for Masks: A New Generation, a PbtA superhero game focused on teenage heroes along the lines of Young Avengers and early Teen Titans.

Backing gets you access to an early draft of the playbooks and such, and while I'm still reading through the playbooks I have to say I really like the art style.

* It's not under their company, but they are involved with the project.

Evil Mastermind posted:

Okay, just going through the playbooks first without looking at the general moves sheets. Also kind of jumping around and writing this during a boring-rear end phone meeting I don't need to be in so I apologize in advance.

tl;dr: This is basically Monsterhearts, but with superheroes.

The stats ("Labels") are Freak, Danger, Savior, Superior, and Mundane.
There are also Conditions, which are like emotional "damage" that can give you some serious penalties (being Insecure gives you -2 to any roll to stand in defense or reject what others say).

Looks like the inter-character mechanic is Influence. Inter-group dynamics seem pretty important (which makes sense given the topic), as each playbook has two team moves: when you share a triumphant celebration with someone and when you share a vulnerability or weakness with someone.

The XP system is called Potential. Mark it when you miss a basic move, mark it five times and get an advance.

One of the general advances is "Unlock your Moment of Truth", which is your big heroing up come-into-your-own "call me Nightwing" moment. I really like that idea. Like MH, there are also "Adult Moves".

Each playbook is pretty specific; they're going the "powers as a metaphor" route a la Monsterhearts. That means that each playbook represents a specific type of super, and each playbook only has a few options for powers which are separate from your moves for the most part.

For example, you have The Bull, who's the brick and whose powers are preselected as "Someone changed you, made you into a perfect weapon: superhumanly tough, incredibly strong, and uniquely skilled at fighting. Decide how each of those abilities manifests." But The Legacy (who is a direct next-gen hero) gets to pick one of five power suites. Each suite has a bunch of familiar power groups, but he has to pick two powers from that suite he doesn't have.

Okay, I explained that badly. One of the Legacy's available suites is pretty much Barry Allen Flash: Super speed, regeneration, phasing, speed-reading/learning, and air manipulation. If Kid Flash takes that suite, he has to pick two of those powers he can't use. He can get them later with an advance, but until then he's just a bit behind Barry power-wise.

Quick playbook rundown and sample moves:

The Bull is the afforementioned brick. The straightforward heart-on-your-sleeve jump in type.

quote:
The Bull�s Heart: You always have exactly one love and one rival. You can change your love or rival at any time; give the new subject of your affections or disdain Influence over you. Take +1 ongoing to any action that supports your love or frustrates your rival.

The Nova is the energy manipulator. He rolls to generate "Burn" (basically Hold) that he can spend to use his other powers. The downside is that unless you roll a 10+, you're going to take some conditions as your powers (and emotions) get the better of you.

quote:
Reality Storm: You channel a destructive burst with your powers. Spend 1 Burn to directly engage a threat using your powers, rolling + Freak instead of + Danger. If you do, you will cause unwanted collateral damage unless you spend another Burn.

The Outsider is the alien prince/princess/warrior/etc. The one who sees the beauty in this world because it's all new and exciting to her. Also one of her moves is a "Kirby-craft" spaceship.

quote:
The best of them: When you build someone up by telling them how they exemplify the best parts of Earth, roll +Freak instead of +Mundane.

The Legacy has big shoes to fill. They have an established hero they draw their power line from, but they aren't as good as their predecesor. I mean, you can stand on your own, and they know it, but you still have a name to live up to. No pressure, right?

quote:
The Legacy Matters: Whenever you accept what someone from your Legacy tells you about the world or yourself, mark potential and take +1 forward.

The Protege is like the Legacy, but where the Legacy stands more on their own, the Protege is being trained and groomed to assist (or replace) another hero. The other downside is that your mentor is trying to make you into them.

quote:
Fireside Chat: When you seek advice from your Mentor, roll + the Label they embody. On a hit they give you insightful advice. On a 10+, take +1 ongoing and mark potential if you follow it. On a 7-9, you get +1 forward to see it through. On a miss, they don't have time for you because something big has gone down. Mark a condition, GM's choice.

The Janus has the fun task of having to balance a mundane life and responsibilities with your great power. You have great responsibilities in both lives. The trick is balancing them.

quote:
When time passes, roll + your Mundane to see how you're managing your obligations. On a 10+, things are going okay---you have an opportunity or advantage thanks to one of your obligations. On a 7-9, you've lapsed on one obligation, your choice. On a miss, you haven't given your normal life anywhere near the attention it deserves; the GM chooses two obligations that are going to bite you in the butt.

The Delinquent isn't doing this poo poo because you want him to. He's doing it for attention, to get a rise out of people, to basically shove a middle finger in the world's face. You got a problem with that? Good.

quote:
Mary Contrary: When someone tries to pierce your mask, build you up, or provoke you, you can interfere. Roll + Superior. On a hit, they take a -2 on their roll. On a 10+, take Influence over them or clear a condition. On a 7-9, you expose yourself to retribution, cost, or judgment. On a miss, they get a 10+ no matter what they rolled and you mark a condition, their choice.

The Doomed is a ticking time bomb. Sooner or later, everything is going to wrong and you can't stop it. But if you're going to die young, you can at least make sure the life you do have matters.

quote:
This one is a little to complex to just one-move-summary it, but it's similar to Corruption in Urban Shadows or the Chosen in MotW. Basically you pick what your "Doom" is, like becoming unmade or opening a dark gateway. You also have a five-box Doom track; when you embrace your doom, you can do things like clearing conditions or get bonuses on basic moves. Mark all five boxes on the track and you can take a powerful Doomsign ability...which marks Doom each time you use it. The last Doomsign is "Your doom arrives; confront it and perish."

The Transformed was human once. Now they're a monster, a stranger in your own body, a freak on perpetual display. If you're lucky you're pitied; if not you're feared. Either way your life as you knew it is pretty much over.

quote:
Coming for you: When you mark a condition, take +1 forward against the person you most blame for causing it.

The Beacon isn't the most powerful. Or heavily trained. He's got maybe a sword, or a bow and trick arrows, or maybe he's just really agile. He's pretty much always out of his weight class. But man, who cares? Dude! You're a loving superhero! Fighting aliens and monsters and poo poo! How cool is that?

I don't think I need to tell you which specific characters the playbooks are based on. They're all well-designed enough that you go "oh, this is obviously <name>" by the time you get to the "pick your main powers" section.

So yeah, this is pretty awesome so far. I mean, I can map the character arcs of a few established comic characters through the playbooks, and there's a lot about the interplay between characters and the team. I like how the power selection is limited by playbook to keep things thematic to the core concept, although some of them don't make sense to me (why does the Protege have "Body Elasticity"?), but I don't know if there'll be something in the main text about picking other people's powers without an advance.

Evil Mastermind posted:

Oh man I think I'm going to be gushing about this game for a while. Sorry folks.

So you have five stats, called "Labels":

Freak is about being different in some way, shape, or form. Generally rolled to use your powers.

Danger is how scary and destructive you are.

Savior is how much of a goody-two-shoes you are.

Superior is how much better you are than everyone else. This is the most leader-y stat.

Mundane is how grounded you are, and how much you can relate to other people (super or not).

They go from -2 to +3 as usual, but unlike other PbtA games they aren't fixed. They'll move up and down as you play and make moves as you discover things about yourself, shift your priorities, and, well, grow up. Once you've five advances you gain access to the "Unlock your Moment of Truth", you can basically come into your own and lock one of your stats in place.

The Janus's Moment of Truth posted:
The mask is a lie, and some piece of you has always known that. Doesn't matter if others can see it. You're the one that can do the impossible. Mask off. Costume on. And you're going to save the drat day. Of course, you better hope nobody nasty is watching...

There are also the five Conditions: Afraid, Angry, Guilty, Insecure, and Hopeless. They can be inflicted via moves (even from teammates), and each one gives a -2 to specific situations until cleared.

Evil Mastermind posted:

So that's a good reason to talk about Influence!

Influence is the inter-character connection mechanic, but unlike MH or DW it's an either/or thing. Either you have Influence over someone, or you don't.

But here's the thing: Influence isn't inherently bad. It's not about control like Strings are, they're about much much you value their opinion of you, whether you realize it or not. Or whether you want it or not.

When you do have Influence, you can do a couple of things with it.

First off, you get a flat +1 forward when rolling moves against someone you have Influence over.

If you try to take advantage of that Influence, you can roll and give the target a -2 forward, a Condition, or to get a further +1 forward against them. You can also risk your Influence over a person, tell them what you really think of them, and possibly clear one of your own Conditions or improve your Team pool (more on that in a second).

If you try to reject someone's influence, it's a flat roll. Success means you can cancel the Influence and get +1 forward against that person ("gently caress YOU DAD I'M NOT GOING TO LEAD THE LEAGUE OF ASSASSINS"), shift your Labels a bit, or cancel one of your current Conditions as you prove them wrong.

I like that you can use Influence for inspiring each other, supporting each other, cutting each other down, or pissing Banner off to get him to Hulk out (the Bull and the Transformed get some nice bonuses if they get certain conditions).

Oh, and every adult gains influence over you when they're first introduced. Just FYI.

So, the Team Pool. The pool starts a 1, then when the team enters a fight or dangerous situation, the leader (whoever he may be) makes a flat roll, getting a bonus if he has Influence over everyone and/or everyone's on the same page, or a penalty if there's mistrust or you're unprepared. People can spend points from the pool to give help someone else (giving them +1 forward), or can spend them to make the act selfishly move which can let you shift your Labels around a bit.

# ? Sep 29, 2015 19:10

Error 404: Jul 17, 2009; MAGE CURES PLOT

Yeah I'm backing masks as well.
I've told the creators this, but my main gripe is powers.

I love that each playbook is all about 'how do I relate to my powers/abilities/being a hero?" And with some exceptions each playbook's moves follow their theme.

But each playbook has limited options for powers. The Robin/Nightwing inspired playbook will only let you have kung fu and gadgets like Robin/Nightwing.

In a supers game, your powers both are, and are not, critical.
Getting bogged down in poo poo like 'lifts X pounds' 'flies Y fast' will drag a game down and suck. But your hero and what they can do is a cornerstone of any supers story.

I really like how Worlds in Peril (another pbta supers game) handled powers.
You chose anything you wanted and ranked them by 'doing this is easy, probably won't even need to roll', 'doing this takes effort', 'doing this is almost impossible, pulling it off will be a character defining moment' etc.

In a perfect world, the Masks playbooks would be 90% as they are, with the powers sections written more like a story prompt, followed by WiP style power scale.
Bull: how do you kick rear end and take names?
this could be superboy, or it could be wolverine, or even blacksuit spider-man.

Nova: what happens when you lose control?
this could be a jean grey phoenix, or an incredible hulk, or even a tony stark in Iron Man 3

Legacy: what have you picked up from your predecessor and what's all you?
as mentioned you have your kid flash, but also blue beetle, any of the kids from runaways, etc.

Obviously this is all just throwing the first thought out there, but it's what sticks out to me the most.

# ? Sep 29, 2015 19:40

Evil Mastermind: Apr 28, 2008

I admit I would like a few more options for powers, or the ability to snag a power choice or two from another playbook, but I think they made the right choice because they're going more for "teenagers, who happen to be superheroes" rather than "superheroes, who happen to be teenagers".

# ? Sep 29, 2015 19:52

Evil Mastermind: Apr 28, 2008

I can't verify since I'm not backing the Patreon, but rumor has it we're going to be getting a PbtA game based on Kill 6 Billion Demons.

# ? Sep 30, 2015 00:57

Covok: May 27, 2013; Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.

Evil Mastermind posted:

I can't verify since I'm not backing the Patreon, but rumor has it we're going to be getting a PbtA game based on Kill 6 Billion Demons.

What's the comic about?

Evil Mastermind posted:

I'm going to go ahead and multiquote myself from the KS thread because y'all need to get up on this.

[*]The Nova is the energy manipulator. He rolls to generate "Burn" (basically Hold) that he can spend to use his other powers. The downside is that unless you roll a 10+, you're going to take some conditions as your powers (and emotions) get the better of you.

[*]The Outsider is the alien prince/princess/warrior/etc. The one who sees the beauty in this world because it's all new and exciting to her. Also one of her moves is a "Kirby-craft" spaceship.

[*]The Legacy has big shoes to fill. They have an established hero they draw their power line from, but they aren't as good as their predecesor. I mean, you can stand on your own, and they know it, but you still have a name to live up to. No pressure, right?

[*]The Protege is like the Legacy, but where the Legacy stands more on their own, the Protege is being trained and groomed to assist (or replace) another hero. The other downside is that your mentor is trying to make you into them.

[*]The Janus has the fun task of having to balance a mundane life and responsibilities with your great power. You have great responsibilities in both lives. The trick is balancing them.

[*]The Delinquent isn't doing this poo poo because you want him to. He's doing it for attention, to get a rise out of people, to basically shove a middle finger in the world's face. You got a problem with that? Good.

[*]The Doomed is a ticking time bomb. Sooner or later, everything is going to wrong and you can't stop it. But if you're going to die young, you can at least make sure the life you do have matters.

[*]The Transformed was human once. Now they're a monster, a stranger in your own body, a freak on perpetual display. If you're lucky you're pitied; if not you're feared. Either way your life as you knew it is pretty much over.

[*]The Beacon isn't the most powerful. Or heavily trained. He's got maybe a sword, or a bow and trick arrows, or maybe he's just really agile. He's pretty much always out of his weight class. But man, who cares? Dude! You're a loving superhero! Fighting aliens and monsters and poo poo! How cool is that?

[/list]

I don't think I need to tell you which specific characters the playbooks are based on. They're all well-designed enough that you go "oh, this is obviously <name>" by the time you get to the "pick your main powers" section.

So yeah, this is pretty awesome so far. I mean, I can map the character arcs of a few established comic characters through the playbooks, and there's a lot about the interplay between characters and the team. I like how the power selection is limited by playbook to keep things thematic to the core concept, although some of them don't make sense to me (why does the Protege have "Body Elasticity"?), but I don't know if there'll be something in the main text about picking other people's powers without an advance.

There are also the five Conditions: Afraid, Angry, Guilty, Insecure, and Hopeless. They can be inflicted via moves (even from teammates), and each one gives a -2 to specific situations until cleared.
[/quote]
[/quote]

The Doomed is interesting to me as its an interesting way to view a Raven-like character. In TT, Raven may have had a cursed fate, but the dilemma was always more about a bad father-daughter relationship and defying the future your parents plan for you.

How does Mask compare to Worlds In Peril? From this post alone, I think it sounds better made.

# ? Sep 30, 2015 01:26

Error 404: Jul 17, 2009; MAGE CURES PLOT

As I posted too many words above. I think Masks comes up superior in every aspect except power definition.

# ? Sep 30, 2015 01:39

Galaga Galaxian: Apr 23, 2009; What a childish tactic!
Don't you think you should put more thought into your battleplan?!

Evil Mastermind posted:

I admit I would like a few more options for powers, or the ability to snag a power choice or two from another playbook, but I think they made the right choice because they're going more for "teenagers, who happen to be superheroes" rather than "superheroes, who happen to be teenagers".

I wish it was the latter instead of the former. Monsterhearts doesn't interest me at all and I just am really not into teenage drama.

# ? Sep 30, 2015 02:27

Evil Mastermind: Apr 28, 2008

Covok posted:

What's the comic about?

A college girl gets a jewel implanted in her forehead, is transported to a world made of the bodies of dead gods and inhabited by Bhuddist/Gnostic angels and demons, and to get her also kidnapped boyfriend back it looks like she'll have to...well...

Also it has poo poo like this:

# ? Sep 30, 2015 02:38

JesterOfAmerica: Sep 11, 2015

Kill Six Billion Demons is a good comic and its scale and theme are something I hope the rpg will convey.

# ? Sep 30, 2015 03:09

Pththya-lyi: Nov 8, 2009; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2020

My Monsterhearts players want their characters to be in more situations that require teamwork. They do like the system and are invested in the setting we made together, but they'd like some more conventional player-versus-environment type situations. How can I encourage that? I realize it's partly on them to find reasons to cooperate, but I'd like to help make things easier.

# ? Sep 30, 2015 03:14

Lurks With Wolves: Jan 14, 2013; At least I don't dance with them, right?

Pththya-lyi posted:

My Monsterhearts players want their characters to be in more situations that require teamwork. They do like the system and are invested in the setting we made together, but they'd like some more conventional player-versus-environment type situations. How can I encourage that? I realize it's partly on them to find reasons to cooperate, but I'd like to help make things easier.

Just bring some rear end in a top hat NPCs in. Or the feds. Or the crew of a Ghost Hunters type show that's also interested in vampires and werewolves and junk. Really just any general antagonistic force that would impact multiple PCs.

Also, remember that one of the things about Monsterhearts' moveset is that players don't really have the tools to interact in a healthy way with each other until they take some of the growing up moves, so be ready to handwave things in the interest of cooperation.

# ? Sep 30, 2015 03:23

The Lore Bear: Jan 21, 2014; I don't know what to put here. Guys? GUYS?!

^^ More generically, that.

Pththya-lyi posted:

My Monsterhearts players want their characters to be in more situations that require teamwork. They do like the system and are invested in the setting we made together, but they'd like some more conventional player-versus-environment type situations. How can I encourage that? I realize it's partly on them to find reasons to cooperate, but I'd like to help make things easier.

Is there a Chosen as one of the PCs? If there is, have the Evil Power Whatever that's going after the Chosen actually threaten everyone in some way. It's a quick fix, and it's not perfect, but it'll help with the basics. This'll also give them reasons to all hang out and try not to have the PvP-for-PvP-sake. They'll go on hunts together, etc.

If there's no Chosen, it's a little more difficult, but give them an authority figure or something. Definitely more mundane, but have things like school crackdowns on (random occult thing) or something similar. Turn the school, the job, the setting into a world where teenagers don't have the power to do more than the most white-bread plain things without someone getting in their face, unless they work together.

# ? Sep 30, 2015 04:24

Golden Bee: Dec 24, 2009; I came here to chew bubblegum and quote 'They Live', and I'm... at an impasse.

If you want to collaborate in Monsterhearts, it's about putting NPCs at disadvantage. Use strings to mess with them (make them freeze up or easier to manipulate), give each other physical healing, don't block attempts to Run Away.

# ? Sep 30, 2015 07:40

Thanqol: Feb 15, 2012; because our character has the 'poet' trait, this update shall be told in the format of a rap battle.

Upon seeing the Doomed in Masks I became startlingly aware that the game could be used to run a Puella Madoka Magica Magi style crushing psychodrama rather than an uplifting superheroes story with remarkably little tweaking.

My mind is also blown by the MC getting new moves based on what Playbooks the players picked! I never thought of that and it's such a good way to bring the fundamental questions of each type into play.

# ? Oct 1, 2015 12:02

Error 404: Jul 17, 2009; MAGE CURES PLOT

Thanqol posted:

Upon seeing the Doomed in Masks I became startlingly aware that the game could be used to run a Puella Madoka Magica Magi style crushing psychodrama rather than an uplifting superheroes story with remarkably little tweaking.

My mind is also blown by the MC getting new moves based on what Playbooks the players picked! I never thought of that and it's such a good way to bring the fundamental questions of each type into play.

Yeah this is a really great design.

# ? Oct 1, 2015 20:15

Evil Mastermind: Apr 28, 2008

Thanqol posted:

My mind is also blown by the MC getting new moves based on what Playbooks the players picked! I never thought of that and it's such a good way to bring the fundamental questions of each type into play.

What's weird is that it's such an obvious idea in retrospect.

# ? Oct 1, 2015 20:17

Golden Bee: Dec 24, 2009; I came here to chew bubblegum and quote 'They Live', and I'm... at an impasse.

Yeah, I just backed Masks and it's fantastic. There's a playtest during VirtuaCon but I'd love to try a campaign of it; it's Monsterhearts: Teamwork Edition.

# ? Oct 2, 2015 06:09

unseenlibrarian: Jun 4, 2012; There's only one thing in the mountains that leaves a track like this. The creature of legend that roams the Timberline. My people named him Sasquatch. You call him... Bigfoot.

So one of the stretch goals for Masks is big social media push- post superhero selfies or character art, post custom moves, etc, tag it with #MasksRPG and #HalcyonJailbreak.

I did my part on the custom moves front and got some positive responses, so I figured I'd share it here too. It's an alternate starting move and replacement GM moves for the Outsider for Outsiders who are the last of their kind:

The Last of Us." Your people are no more; you're the last of them. When time passes and you've spent it with a monument to your fallen species, roll +Superior. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 2. On a miss, Hold 1, but mark a condition to reflect your survivor's guilt. Spend your hold 1 for 1 to:

-Discover some useful artifact of your people, even if you don't know what it does: It will become clear when the time is right.
- Clear a condition (Other than the one you gained for failing the roll) by finding an inspiring message from a long-dead member of your race.
- Find a hint or a clue to a current dilemma or mystery based on an anecdote of your people.

GM playbook moves (Replacing Make a request from home and Introduce a monitor from home)

Introduce a forgotten weapon of their civilization
Hint that they are not as alone as they thought

# ? Oct 8, 2015 17:40

Evil Mastermind: Apr 28, 2008

unseenlibrarian posted:

The Last of Us." Your people are no more; you're the last of them. When time passes and you've spent it with a monument to your fallen species, roll +Superior. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 2. On a miss, Hold 1, but mark a condition to reflect your survivor's guilt. Spend your hold 1 for 1 to:

-Discover some useful artifact of your people, even if you don't know what it does: It will become clear when the time is right.
- Clear a condition (Other than the one you gained for failing the roll) by finding an inspiring message from a long-dead member of your race.
- Find a hint or a clue to a current dilemma or mystery based on an anecdote of your people.

Ooh, interesting idea. The only real concern I have is that the "take a Condition" thing on the 7-9 feels kinda short-term for the weight of what it is narratively. But that said, I don't know if you'd want to tack something on to make that particular Condition harder to clear.

Related: I've been working on a Masks playbook for your Jamie Reyes-style "I found an artifact that makes me part of this huge galactic organization" hero. It still needs work, but the basics are there.

# ? Oct 8, 2015 19:07

unseenlibrarian: Jun 4, 2012; There's only one thing in the mountains that leaves a track like this. The creature of legend that roams the Timberline. My people named him Sasquatch. You call him... Bigfoot.

It's mostly set up as an "I'm alone in the universe" parallel to the Belongs to Two Worlds" move, since a failure on that means homeworld sends you some sort of unpalatable demand. I suppose I could just say "The GM can make a playbook move" but, you know, they kind of already can do that on a miss, so...hmm.

# ? Oct 8, 2015 19:29

bewilderment: Nov 22, 2007; man what

I finally have a stable Monsterhearts group (probably)! And had my first sessionin roll20! I know all these people IRL, it's just easier for us to get together that way.

Two of my players were a bit hesitant and first and were worried about getting uncomfortable. I talked about expectations and where we fade to black a bit, and then I told them what the 'X' macro was for - hit it and the chatbar suddenly prints out 'XXXXXXXXX'. That's an indication that you're not comfortable with whatever the last statement was, and whoever said it should instead rephrase it or replace it with something more palatable or less uncomfortable. They were on board with it pretty quickly, and it only got used once, as a "No, actually, I didn't say that".

We had about 50 minutes of actual play, and afterwards everyone was really happy and excited to see where this goes.

Players are:
Peter the redneck Werewolf, who lives on the outskirts of town and plays school football
King (his actual first name) Leo, the Queen, who is pretty stereotypical
Lillim the Fae, who got fairy powers after taking a hit of something at a party and getting a different perspective on the universe. Also the only player with a different-gendered character.
Ophelia the Infernal, who lives in a big house with her family after parents mysteriously won the lottery.

Even with the short amount of actual play, some of the seeds of drama were sown. Peter bared his fangs, literally, at another footballer as a result of a failed Hold Steady, which might come back on him later. One of King's gang has divided loyalties with the biggest loser in the school. Ophelia has a giant crush on Lillim - and Lillim knows and teases, but might not want to return the affection. And the stoner classmate seems intent on bullying Lillim ("Get out of here with your NERD grass! Drug grass is better!")

Considering Lillim became a Fae after taking a hit of something, this might be something to play up, and stoner Ned may have hidden depths. Especially since that earlier altercation and a failed Shut Someone Down attempt from King landed him the condition 'Outwitted by a Pothead'.

I may have to play up some of the Strings more and also frame some more interaction between players, though - we'll see how the next session in a few weeks goes.

# ? Oct 9, 2015 03:24

Covok: May 27, 2013; Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.

I thought this would fullfill one of the missions for The Masks Kickstarter, but it appears I was mistaken.

Regardless, I made a custom playbook called The Kid. The Kid is primarily inspired by DC's Captain Marvel (Not Marvel's Captain Marvel). For those who don't know, Captain Marvel main gimmick is that he is a child who gains the body of an adult when he uses his powers.

The main metaphor for the playbook was that type of young adult who clings to the idea they're still a kid. Basically, that teenager who is refusing to grow up and become an adult. While I like most of the playbook, two of the moves are a little weak.

Anyway, without further ado, here is The Kid v.1
Doc
PDF

Any comments are appreciated.

# ? Oct 9, 2015 07:07

drrockso20: May 6, 2013; Has Not Actually Done Cocaine

so I haven't read through the whole thread yet, but anyone want to sell me on Spirit of 77, cause it looks pretty rad, but I could use some more convincing

# ? Oct 9, 2015 10:47

thotsky: Jun 7, 2005; hot to trot

Jesus, that masks kickstarter is really expensive for an indie game.

# ? Oct 9, 2015 12:33

unseenlibrarian: Jun 4, 2012; There's only one thing in the mountains that leaves a track like this. The creature of legend that roams the Timberline. My people named him Sasquatch. You call him... Bigfoot.

Eh, 10 dollars for all PDFs and stretch goals isn't bad, I don't think? . Or do you mean how much money it's making? I think that's down to having an artist that has their own fair-sized following illustrating the whole thing.

# ? Oct 9, 2015 13:38

Evil Mastermind: Apr 28, 2008

Covok posted:

I thought this would fullfill one of the missions for The Masks Kickstarter, but it appears I was mistaken.

Regardless, I made a custom playbook called The Kid. The Kid is primarily inspired by DC's Captain Marvel (Not Marvel's Captain Marvel). For those who don't know, Captain Marvel main gimmick is that he is a child who gains the body of an adult when he uses his powers.

The main metaphor for the playbook was that type of young adult who clings to the idea they're still a kid. Basically, that teenager who is refusing to grow up and become an adult. While I like most of the playbook, two of the moves are a little weak.

Anyway, without further ado, here is The Kid v.1
Doc
PDF

Any comments are appreciated.

I love your move names. Did you post this on the G+ group or anything?

I don't know if "Fellow Adult Guy" should work off Freak, though. I want to say it should work of superior instead, given that Superior is about being "being right, correct, intelligent, clever, stubborn, type A", which could be a kid's interpretation of being an adult.

You have "unlock your moment of truth" listed twice under advances.

# ? Oct 9, 2015 14:22

thotsky: Jun 7, 2005; hot to trot

unseenlibrarian posted:

Eh, 10 dollars for all PDFs and stretch goals isn't bad, I don't think? . Or do you mean how much money it's making? I think that's down to having an artist that has their own fair-sized following illustrating the whole thing.

The decks are gameplay items, and you need to pay like 60-80 dollars to get those. 10 bucks would get you an incomplete game...

# ? Oct 9, 2015 14:57

unseenlibrarian: Jun 4, 2012; There's only one thing in the mountains that leaves a track like this. The creature of legend that roams the Timberline. My people named him Sasquatch. You call him... Bigfoot.

You still get the cards as PDFs with the ten dollar pledge, and they're just play aids. The hero deck are basically fancy markers for tracking influence and conditions , the villain deck is just quick villain writeups for the GM. Neither are really necessary for play.

unseenlibrarian fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Oct 9, 2015

# ? Oct 9, 2015 15:26

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# ? May 14, 2024 18:31

Bucnasti: Aug 14, 2012; I'll Fetch My Sarcasm Robes

drrockso20 posted:

so I haven't read through the whole thread yet, but anyone want to sell me on Spirit of 77, cause it looks pretty rad, but I could use some more convincing

It is pretty rad. :cool:

The quick pitch is: The Six Million Dollar Man and Charlie's Angels fight Bigfoot and KISS while driving the General Lee.

It uses a two part character sheet combining a Story(background) and a Role(class) to create a huge variety of characters that fit the genre.
The core book includes nine stories and seven roles, and then the expansion adds three stories and five roles, so you've got 144 character combinations before you even start to customize them. You want to play Rocky? He's a One Bad Mother Tough Guy, want to play Bo "The Bandit" Darville? He's a Humble Beginnings Good Old Boy, want to play Jim Rockford? he's an Ex-con Sleuth.

The game appeals to a lot of people who wouldn't normally play a traditional fantasy RPG, I often describe it as D&D but with muscle cars and shotguns, so the rules are written with new players in mind, starting with the core concepts and then building up to more advanced aspects.

And if you're not already a fan of the 70's there's a huge list of inspirational movies, TV shows, books and music included in the book.

If you're still not convinced, there's a free demo available on the website: http://spiritof77game.com/downloads-and-extras/

# ? Oct 9, 2015 15:56

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