Masks: the new generation

What's your opinion on it?

Also /pbta/ general? dropbox.com/sh/u3e34s7n3kep3ye/AACIuFlXkM9c08n6w4F-moF1a?dl=0

Like all millenial pop culture, its garbage, filthy garbage and isn't worth the paper its printed on

I've been running a few sessions of it with my usual group. It's generally been fun, the only complaint so far is that one player wishes he had a bit more freedom in terms of his character's abilities, otherwise everyone has really liked the system and the kinds of situations it produces.

How does it compare to M&M?

M&M is better for general capery
Masks, from what I've read, is more specialized.

It's tricky to compare since they feel like despite both being superhero systems they're for completely different kinds of game.

Mutants and Masterminds focuses a lot on what the characters can do and has the ability to create interesting fights which are still run with a lot of crunch. It's essentially a super-brawls system for comic book action.

Masks abstracts a lot of the character's powers in favor of focuses mechanically on their personalities and relationships. Basically Masks doesn't give a shit whether you're a sorcerer or a telekinetic, but it cares a lot about how accidentally blowing up a car with your powers made you feel. This allows it to create some cool dramatic moments which focus more on the PC as a person than a superhero.

So as I said, not really comparable because they're for playing completely different kinds of game, it's apples and oranges.

Ah ok, that's pretty neat then. I might check it out.

Better question:
How does it compare to worlds in peril?

Anyone got any good stories about their group?

I prefer that WiP is not focused around teen drama... but then it's not really got a focus, which is its own downside.

So, If I wanted to do a x-men or Avengers type game while still using pbta, I should use worlds?

Also: here's a super man

Yeah, Worlds is probably better for it.

I need to read MASKS again, and compare the moves.

OP here, the pdfs for masks are in the dropbox

maybe not the most entertaining of stories but one which illustrates Masks as a system rather well
>the PCs go to fight a pyromancer villain in the city park
>after the fight 1 is stressed out, 1 caused a bunch of collateral damage and 1 lost control and accidentally disintegrated the villain and wasn't too happy about it
>so the guy who lost control and the one who got stressed out go ride motorcycles along the beachfront and talk about life in order to recover
>meanwhile the third team member gets chewed out by the authorities leading to them having a somewhat fractured emotional state
>in a following fight that same member, on account of their fractured emotional state, does something really stupid to hurt the enemy and winds up plummeting from the sky (they were basically indestructible but that still hurts)
>they then wind up lashing out at their teammates until they feel better

Oh damn, I was going to grab a copy of this but I didn't know it was a *World game. Thanks OP!

No problem man, happy to provide.

Also, anyone know a good way to run masks online?

do you mean in a pbp or just over skype? because in the latter it's no different from any other rpg

I want to run a superhero game with a story devised from but I'm fairly new to the system, as I understand it M&M is more of a campaign proper, with rolls and character creation and all that jazz.

Meanwhile Masks has a more "Rule of cool"/Team story telling feel to it, where it's not so much a campaign as a story told by 4 or so people.

>where it's not so much a campaign as a story told by 4 or so people
you're generally right, although there is a system for the GM to determine the type of story. The types are
>Corruption - something good is becoming dangerous
>Invasion - an enemy is trying to take control
>Restriction - those with power impose restrictions on those without
>Destruction - enemies destroy whatever stands in their way
>Restoration - the heroes are trying to repair what damage has been done
the type of story chosen affects what sorts of options the GM has

Masks works great for campaigns, heck, one of the base playbooks is designed around extended campaigns.

it seems like the Doomed and the Beacon both kind of need an extended game to really work

Legacy also benefits from it, due to the Family stuff.

After reading through the book and viewing the playbooks I think it's an interesting system and I'd love to try it but my group is lazy as hell and seems allergic to new things

Timing of the thread is slightly creepy because I just finished the book.

your problem is a common one, is there really no angle which can get your group to try a different system

Lol, I just bought the books myself, decided to make a thread about it

Thanks, I'll see about running a one shot with some cape obsessed friends this weekend to playtest before starting a huge campaign.

Maybe try finding a new group or just ask your group if they'd want to try it?

I keep expecting it to devolve into pornography with every new page.

It has a really Sockjaw vibe coming off the artwork and storytext that kinda puts me off, but hey if it works.

sad my-group-are-new-game-phobic high five

Why?

The artist drew pornography under the name Zet13, but has deleted all his stuff as people were getting too uptight about it.

The Janus playbook is strange. You'd think juggling your secret identity/superhero obligations and your normal life stuff would be a core part of a teen supers roleplaying experience but instead in Masks one class has a complex over it and apparently everyone else isn't too bothered by it.

Also having the iconic character for the "hideous" Transformed be a handsome guy with funny coloured skin and pointy bits is just laughable, but that might be the point.

Well was cyborg or mystique or idkanotherexample that ugly looking

>as I understand it M&M is more of a campaign proper, with rolls and character creation and all that jazz.

M&M is for people who want to go
>"Wolverine would win!"
>"No, Deadpool would win!"
And then stat it out at some PL and have them go at it.

Not saying M&M is bad, but for genre emulation it's kinda missing the point imo. It may still fit your purposes better.

>Also having the iconic character for the "hideous" Transformed be a handsome guy with funny coloured skin and pointy bits is just laughable, but that might be the point.
I don't think the point of the transformed is to be ugly, just the fact that the other heroes can just put on some civilian clothes and blend in while they can't, they are always going to stand out in a crowd and be treated differently because of it