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Masks: A New Generation – Superhero Tabletop RPG | Story-Driven Roleplaying Game for Teens and Adults [Paperback]
A giant robot is smashing down Main Street. Your best friend tried to kiss you. Your mom thinks your grades need work. Your mentor thinks your team is bringing you down. Oh, and your costume is ripped. Just another day in Halcyon City. A New Generation is an ENnie-award winning superhero roleplaying game in which a team of young heroes fights villains, saves lives, and tries to figure out who they are noble paragons? Dark avengers? Or regular kids? All against the backdrop of Halcyon City, the greatest city in the world. In this book, you
- Ten playbooks for young superheroes, so you can create your own awesome characters
- Rules for superheroic action, interpersonal drama, and changing identity
- Detailed instructions for running the game, building villains, and playing to find out what happens
- Tools for creating your own custom material for Masks Masks makes use of the same rules-light engine as Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts, Dungeon World, Urban Shadows , and Epyllion to create stories about young superheroes in the vein of Young Justice, Young Avengers, and Teen Titans. So what're you waiting for, hero? Time to get to work.
- Ten playbooks for young superheroes, so you can create your own awesome characters
- Rules for superheroic action, interpersonal drama, and changing identity
- Detailed instructions for running the game, building villains, and playing to find out what happens
- Tools for creating your own custom material for Masks Masks makes use of the same rules-light engine as Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts, Dungeon World, Urban Shadows , and Epyllion to create stories about young superheroes in the vein of Young Justice, Young Avengers, and Teen Titans. So what're you waiting for, hero? Time to get to work.
- GenresRole Playing Games
240 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
3 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 3, 2024
Superhero TRRPG. Seems epic
August 17, 2019
Have you ever noticed that superhero combat is really just a thematic, emotional debate that ends with a dramatic attack which basically serves as the period ending their conversation? Masks noticed, and has developed their entire game around this concept of emotional conflict. By using this emotional battle, characters like Spiderman can effectively battle Superman by making him question why he fights, and make him give up before he ruins the city and just makes things worse. Centering the conflict around the psychology of the characters throws the balance of powers out the window, allowing the players to choose powers that have drastically different power levels while still maintaining similar levels of effectiveness. With the abundance of superhero role-playing games out there, such as Mutants and Masterminds, Champion, and DC Heroes just to name a few, this focus on the emotional aspect of roleplaying really makes the game stand out.
However, the game's setting is a superhero high school, like My Hero Academia, Teen Titans, or Young Justice. the game's mechanics assumes that there are adults who are better than you who are telling you what to do, and that there are friends who have influence over you who want to pressure you into changing who you are. To me this is just one more innovative element of the game.
There are a dozen other innovations that all fit together. Things like the fact that only the players roll dice, and the GM attacks when the players fail, or the fact that the players can adjust one another's stats in the middle of combat to reflect the mood, situation, and relationship to the other characters. By focusing on the drama of the fight in a dramatic fight, instead of the power of the fight itself, Masks manages to encourage players to choose the most dramatic option, as the GM might not even let the player roll unless the description is compelling and bold, or they can just declare the player succeeds based on what they are attempting to do. This decision helps players focus on the reasoning and emotionality of their performance over their stats and generally strengthens the acting and performance aspects of play. Many games tend to focus on the tactical aspects of gaming, relatively few instead design themselves around bringing out the emotions that brought players to the table in the first place. I now consider Masks one of my very favorite systems, and I hope more games come out with similar innovative and charming gameplay.
However, the game's setting is a superhero high school, like My Hero Academia, Teen Titans, or Young Justice. the game's mechanics assumes that there are adults who are better than you who are telling you what to do, and that there are friends who have influence over you who want to pressure you into changing who you are. To me this is just one more innovative element of the game.
There are a dozen other innovations that all fit together. Things like the fact that only the players roll dice, and the GM attacks when the players fail, or the fact that the players can adjust one another's stats in the middle of combat to reflect the mood, situation, and relationship to the other characters. By focusing on the drama of the fight in a dramatic fight, instead of the power of the fight itself, Masks manages to encourage players to choose the most dramatic option, as the GM might not even let the player roll unless the description is compelling and bold, or they can just declare the player succeeds based on what they are attempting to do. This decision helps players focus on the reasoning and emotionality of their performance over their stats and generally strengthens the acting and performance aspects of play. Many games tend to focus on the tactical aspects of gaming, relatively few instead design themselves around bringing out the emotions that brought players to the table in the first place. I now consider Masks one of my very favorite systems, and I hope more games come out with similar innovative and charming gameplay.
May 31, 2020
One of the better late iterations of PbtA sensibilities, deemphasizing the super powers and emphasizing the interpersonal.
I have some qualms, but will need to see it in okay to know if they hold water.
I have some qualms, but will need to see it in okay to know if they hold water.
February 3, 2021
Un sistema muy completo, cada vez me enamoró más de los sistemas apocalypse en los juegos de rol <3
August 16, 2023
One of my favorite ttrpgs of all time, which is saying something since I'm not usually a superhero person.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews