Halcyon City Heroes [Masks]

Halcyon City is a city on the brink. What was once hailed as the "City of Tomorrow, Today" had a social and economic downturn. Crime rates rose, but heroes rose to push it back. For a generation, they succeeded. Lately, villains have been rising to the occastion to make the city thier own, and the Halcyon City Heroes need a hand from the Next Generation to help raise Halcyon City back to it's former glory.

---

Hello everyone. I'm still relatively new to the site and was looking for a superhero game but couldn't find one. I thought this may be a good opportunity to stretch my legs and practice a new game so I decided to try to run a game of MASKS: The Next Generation. I'm hoping to get a little more experience with the site and with some of the members here, and if it's a good experience for everyone, maybe use this as a springboard for more games.

I'm sure most of you know about it and have seen or heard it but "Masks: A New Generation" is a superhero tabletop roleplaying game full of action, youthful angst, and dazzling bravery. Take on the roles of members of the latest generation of superheroes, young adults trying to figure out who they are and what kind of heroes they want to be. Masks casts its players as a team of teenage to young adult superheroes, in the vein of Teen Titans or Young Justice. The game's Splats (called "Playbooks") suggest your hero's origin and the main issue they struggle with in their superhero career—for instance, you might be an alien from outer space learning to fit into human society, or somebody coming to grips with the way their newly acquired superpowers have changed their body, or the protégé of an established superhero trying to live up to your mentor's expectation

I'm interested in running a game that's a tiny bit more gritty than the usual Four Color Halcyon City setting, but not much. And instead of a city full of heroes, there's just a few others looking after Halcyon, which is why they need you and want to "guide" you.

I'm looking at having 3 - 5 players, each with a different playbook. Posting rate is about 3 times a week. If you're interested in applying, drop a post below with the playbook and character concept you'd like to play. If you have any questions feel free to ask them.

I'm interested! I will get a playbook and character concept up later today.

Oh, I would definitely be very interested in this! Masks is a really fun game.

I'm open to different roles and don't want to snatch someone else's favorite away, so I'd be happy to come up with a different concept for a different playbook as well, but what sprang to my mind for this is The Transformed. Formerly the queen bee and prettiest girl in school, she suffered a terrible accident that left her powerful but also inhuman in appearance. I'd still have to figure out the details exactly but I like the idea of her being conflicted between wanting to be a hero to prove herself and still be admired on the one hand and on the other being ashamed to even be seen at all.

I've been longing for a supers game for a while :p

Got a few concepts but liking a Bull, who is either on the streets or close to it, seen as the bad/troublesome kid by most.

Used to keeping to and looking after herself, accidentally stumbled upon an artifact/situation where she got her powers and is now being encouraged by a hero loving friend to use them for good but she has no idea what she is doing.

Possible thought is the rival from the sheet is the persson meant to get the powers instead, if not one of the other PCs.

(Base idea could work as delinquent/reformed as well.)

Edit: Powerset tbd. Thinking if artifact able to shift power int metal/materials/substanaces Colossus esque. Or different than a standard bull something considered more delicate like plant control, that she has no control over so just wreck stuff.

Those are great concepts! I’m excited by the excitement, lol.

I would like to play! I love Masks, but almost never get to play it. Will be right back with a concept.

Also, slightly grittier than 4-color, but not much... 90s comics then, ay? ;)

I will bring many pouches and leave my feet at home.

Ha. I was literally just typing that @Timplausible. Yeah. Early 90s Late 80’s. Basically during the age of Antiheroes in the comics, lol.

There’s a good book called "Once Crowded Sky" and a good comic called "Danger Club". And admittedly I’ve been watching "My Hero Academia" lately, lol.

Pouches, Bandaliers, spikes, utility belts and extra belts for no reason are all welcome but totally not necessary.

I've decided on The Delinquent playbook. Powers are teleportation and power negation - something about his teleportation has a disrupting effect on other people's powers, so that for a brief period after teleporting, he negates powers in those close by. I still need to come up with a story for how he got his powers

He's a bit of a petty thief ('port in, grab something fun, then 'port out). The team is the only real family he has (will need to flesh out why). He fights evil mostly to support the team (tho he says it's because life is boring and he likes the excitement). He is a pain to his teammates but also cares about them. Sort of a "nobody picks on my friends except me!" kind of thing.

Oh, I'd be interested in this!

Looking at the Playbooks, I'd go for The Janus - thinking a an undergrad student at the local university, moved to town to study here. With a mask on, all about sneaky infiltrating stuff - able to control and talk with insects, and able to mimic all kinds of different substances.

Really wants to be more popular, has to really fight the urge to use his sneakiness to find out secrets about his friends, which he hopes could help him understand them better (and in that mixed-up teenage logic, thinks he could use that to become more popular). He's actually well-liked, but struggles to believe that.

I'm interested! I'm thinking about The Doomed, and having them be a character who was given powers by a villain in exchange for working for them, but has recently had a change of heart and is trying to get away. (Or maybe they still work for the villain at the start of the story and something happens early on that changes things- they befriend one of the other characters or discover that the villain's plans are much worse than they originally thought...) The villain in question would be their nemesis, ofc.

Thinking telekinesis and psychic constructs for their abilities, with the constructs mostly being intangible illusions and such. Maybe the villain they worked for has access to some resource that can make the constructs stronger and more physical, and leaving means they're cut off from that. I'm thinking that the villain can influence them directly while in close range, and force them to use their powers whether they want to or not.

All of those sound like great concepts to me

I would lean towards the Outsider. I'm envisioning a character inspired by Starfire from the Teen Titans.

Nice!

I’ll tell you what, we have 6 here. I was thinking of 5. You all said different playbooks and concepts. And I like to keep the momentum going.

I’ll send out invites to you 6 and we’ll move forward. Very excited!

Guess you've filled up quickly?
This is the number 1 game system I'd love to try out.
If you ever have a free spot, please let me know.

Yeah. We got a good response and I like to move fast to keep the momentum up. But we’ve got space for you since this is the number one thing you wanted to play. Who knows when the next game will come along?

I'd be interested, but have never played the system before.

Also interested and happy to go on a stand by list in case you start another game, drop outs etc