im a relatively new GM and my group wants to try and play a game of masks, just a single session for now, and I'm having trouble coming up with content to fill a game. its different from fantasy and I'm sortof blocked.
could i get a hand getting started? like where to look for tips? or structures?
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Stopping a bank robbery.
Stopping the villain duo Toil and Trouble from robbing a bank
Thirded, have a throwaway villain with interesting powers do some fairly minor crime like rob a bank, like any Silver Age comic book would.
Alright, this is a good start, thank you, ill try to fill in more stuff around this idea.
One of the quest hooks I'm working on is:
1. A mad vigilante kills gangsters in the local Mexican slums and steals their organs. Some of the locals are uncooperative because the vigilante also does free organ transplants for the sick.
I call him Santa Medico
Actually that's shitty spanish so probably don't call him that.
Ohh man thats a pretty cool plot line, props user
I suggest renaming him Doctor Santo and giving him a religious background. His brother became a curandero at a very young age and thus, he always felt bitter that he did not possess a special ability to heal people. Then X happened and he began to steal organs
This isn't bad.
Basically for a one-off capeshit story you want one of two things:
1. An interesting villain who is committing a generic crime.
2. A generic villain committing an interesting crime.
1/2
The majority of these suggestions in this thread are crap. ignore them.robbing a bank isn't compelling and most players will lose interest fast.
super hero gaming relies on a strong initial pitch and strong PC motivations and backstory. A general overall concept that grounds the group to a generally understood consensus. Think about the big superhero franchises and look at how differently the structure themselves and how different the stories are from each other.
the X-men are hated by society and struggle against their own kind to protect the peace
Batman and family fight crime in a gothic city with dark and dangerous villians
Planetary (pic) are superhuman archaeologists who examine the hidden histories of the world and do more exploring and outreach than other super hero groups
You need to have a sense of what you and the PCs want to be before starting. If the characters are all gritty vigilanties they might not have much fun trying to fight super cosmic bad guy. Conversely, a colorful fun captain marvel type wouldn't probably have much fun going up against serial killer sociopaths. So come up with some basic pitches and determine the style of game you want to run and pitch that pitch to the players and let them build characters.
2/2
As for building bad guys and important thing for supers that comes up less for fantasy is the need to "right angle" when fighting rather than just building incredibly tough npcs. What I mean by that is most super rpg systems rely on different kinds of mechanics than fantasy rpgs systems that this means more freedom to build powers for both players and yourself. This can make super hero charcters a lot more difficult and unpredictable to deal with than conventional fantasy player characters. So don't just build tougher guys to fight, you need to come up with clever off the wall powers to surprise your players and disrupt their strategies.
Some examples I've used have been
Speed controlling villian who can accellerate and decelerate the movement of anything around him. he rarely used this on the PCs but would instead extend his power and halt or hyper accelerate cars and planes around him to create disaster that the players have to deal with..
A villian who has control over viruses and disease and can also spread his consciousness through the diseases.
an out of control safety obesessed AI program from the future who uses nanobots to prevent anyone around them from being hurt, from moving, or thinking. If they're in perfect stasis they can't get hurt. Thus the AI has "saved" them.
I don't know much about the system you're using, I much prefer Mutants and Masterminds, but I'm still willing to bet that you can get some cool effects out of it.
>robbing a bank isn't compelling and most players will lose interest fast... super hero gaming relies on a strong initial pitch and strong PC motivations and backstory.
Bullshit. Silver age crazy one-offs like "giant ants attack the city!" and "Gillax the Martian declares himself Mayor and institutes 'Martian Law'!" are perfectly in-genre and can provide tons of sessions' worth of fun. Obviously the PCs' characterization should matter and should still be in tune with whatever world they're a part of (for example, a post-Ennis Punisher ripoff probably isn't a good fit for a game that includes the above examples), and your point about the GM and PCs calibrating on what kind of game to play goes for all games, regardless of system or genre, but the idea that an overarching "concept" or core theme is required to fit the genre is something I'm calling shenanigans on.
Adventure of the week is what a significant part of the genre was built on, and it easily translates into the medium of tabletop roleplaying games. A bank robbery can make for a fun and engaging session, whether or not it has any themes that tie into the overarching story of the game. "Super heroes fighting crime" is the backbone of the genre, and that simple premise can be all the direction a game needs.
As weird as it sounds, Power Puff Girls is an excellent example of the "simple premise as a framework for superhero shenanigans" setup. They're a super hero team in charge of protecting a city, the city gets menaced in some way or another, they go and solve it in creative ways. That can be a whole campaign right there, and it's ludicrously easy to re-skin.
I'm not saying you're giving bad advice by the way, but I am saying that that's not the only way to run a game. And it's not how I'd personally do it, either.
To actually contribute to the thread, here's some very basic plot hooks from my Supers ideas notebook. Rip me to shreds if you guys want.
>A wax figure of an important historical figure goes missing shortly before a bank is robbed by someone who looks an awful lot like him.
>A time-control themed villain conspires to defeat the heroes once and for all by turning them into kid versions of themselves. Will the heroes be able to defeat him as adorable tykes? How will they get back into their adult bodies again?
>To track down a dream or magic-themed villain, the heroes must go on a vision quest and battle him in a trippy dreamworld or alternate dimension.
>Alien/science experiment gone wrong/demonic parasites start attaching themselves to citizens' heads, making them evil, murderous, stupid, or otherwise inconvenient to be around. How will the heroes solve the problem without hurting the populace?
>A villain switches the PCs' bodies. They have to swap character sheets until they sort it out (WARNING: this was intended for Marvel Heroic, which is a pretty rules-light system. Crunchier systems might make it frustrating for players to have to learn all the crunchy stuff about someone else's character sheet)
>Mole people!
>A retired villain un-retires. What brought him back? What sinister secrets from the past does he know?
>Alternately, a beloved retired hero un-retires. Why did he decide to come back? Is he a jerk that tries to glory-hog make the heroes play second fiddle? Is he a friend that helps them out when he can?
>One of the PCs finds a super nifty item (anti-gravity shoes? A magic talisman?). They get to enjoy it for a session or two, then the owner comes for it.
What I love about comics is what a fucking ridiculous grab-bag they are. You can really go crazy with the adventure ideas and not only is it probably thematically appropriate, I'd bet money there's already an issue out there with that premise.
>They're a super hero team in charge of protecting a city, the city gets menaced in some way or another, they go and solve it in creative ways
Especially considering OP was asking for a single session premise to try out the system, I think you have the right idea. If they decide to run with it that's when you start carving out backstories and intricate plots. For now you just need something simple.
Also only fags don't like Power Puff Girls, that isn't weird at all.
Dont forget the classics, such as:
>superheroes must become african american for a day
>superheroes are turned into apes, monkeys, dinosaurs, vampires, werewolves or zombies
>sexy superhero is turned into a puritan blogger
>someone becomes gay for absolutely no reason
>beloved hero gives his mantle to beloved sidekick
>a sidekick is killed / raped / brainwashed / resurrected and turned evil/ in love with their mentor
>a sidekick is ... in love with their mentor
All the other cliches and /co/ reee's aside I've never actually seen this one happen and it kind of intrigues me.
dump them right in the middle of the action, think about the first episode of Teen Titans (which is what Masks is trying to be):
it starts with some villains breaking into a place and stealing shit, and the Titans show up and try to stop them. it doesn't go perfectly, and the fallout sets up the rest of the episode
Just start at night with your characters staking out some shit on the docks, a warehouse, or some building. they know the villains are going to be here soon or they're already here. they fight some of the goons (an easy challenge) then run into some big bruiser or main villain who barely gets away or does the whole "gets captured on purpose" cliche
I'm sure you can fill in the blanks from there. Super hero shit is based on tropes and cliches for a reason.
You could also reference ancient myth. For example, three goddesses come down to earth and ask one of the heroes to rate which is more attractive.
It's becouse I'm a psycho who just invented the concept.
Unless Bruce fucking Barbara counts
My recommendation?
>Solve a mundane crime
>Similar crime happens again
>Realize there's a pattern here
>Turns out a big time supervillain is behind it
A charismatic villain has set off a gang war of super powered proportions between 3 femme fatale's. As chaos ensues your heros must prioritizes between citizens, villianesses, and disrupting the plot of the villain who set off the war. It was the worst first day ever.
>dump them right in the middle of the action
I think a big takeaway here is that there is no origin story and no "you all meet in an inn." It's superheroes, part of the appeal is that this isn't Episode 1, it's Volume 3 Issue 127.
Ah, I forgot the one shit example. Still, I'm a sucker for unique dynamic superhero/sidekick teams. Mother/son would also be a neat one.
>and I'm having trouble coming up with content to fill a game.
Don't do this. As says, you're supposed to start out getting to know the characters, both through character creation (which should take up a lot of session one) and the way they react to an immediate threat.
I will add that you should let the characters motivate your thought process. A lot of the playbooks include references to heroes and villains. More than enough to give you a cast for your first session.
You only start planning once all that's been set up after session 1.
Just in case this is you
>next week
You can always experiment with capeshit user. Don't let Marvel or DC limit you. Always experiment with fiction. I mean, what's the point of a made-up world if you can't play with your toys? Twist the nipple of the typical capeshit standarts and go beyond Superman rip offs.
I like to grab a known comic book character and then turn it upside down over and over again: Flash, but wait he needs a modified skate to go fast and he's on his 40's and he retired 20 years ago. But he feels younger in his mind, and so, here he is, doing everything he can, pretending he is Superman.
Honestly, you'll likely have just as good material if you wait until you're together and you know the characters before you decide what they'll be doing.
A game like Masks benefits a lot from having the specific challenges/plots tailored to the specific cast you're working with.
Like, if you have a Doomed? Nemesis built in.
If you have a Bull? Okay, we know there's some dudes after them you could use.
Outsider? At least one player is probably interested in doing stuff with aliens.
Legacy? See if there's any villains their legacy has fought with in the past.
>actually choosing to play Mutants and Masterminds
who hurt you
>could i get a hand getting started? like where to look for tips? or structures?
davidbgoode.wordpress.com
Explain.