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    Alberto Cuevas
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    The document provides guidance for a GM on running a roleplaying game focused on superhero characters. It includes: 1) A list of potential agenda items and principles for the GM to follow to make the game feel like a comic book story. 2) Descriptions of character archetypes ("The Delinquent", "The Transformed", etc.) with suggested moves the GM can take against each one. 3) First session goals focused on character creation and establishing the setting of Halcyon City. 4) Sample interview questions the GM can ask each character to flesh out how they first came together as a team after an initial conflict. 5) Guidance for the GM to constantly drive

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    The document provides guidance for a GM on running a roleplaying game focused on superhero characters. It includes: 1) A list of potential agenda items and principles for the GM to follow to make the game feel like a comic book story. 2) Descriptions of character archetypes ("The Delinquent", "The Transformed", etc.) with suggested moves the GM can take against each one. 3) First session goals focused on character creation and establishing the setting of Halcyon City. 4) Sample interview questions the GM can ask each character to flesh out how they first came together as a team after an initial conflict. 5) Guidance for the GM to constantly drive

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    5 views5 pages

    Masks GM

    Uploaded by

    Alberto Cuevas
    The document provides guidance for a GM on running a roleplaying game focused on superhero characters. It includes: 1) A list of potential agenda items and principles for the GM to follow to make the game feel like a comic book story. 2) Descriptions of character archetypes ("The Delinquent", "The Transformed", etc.) with suggested moves the GM can take against each one. 3) First session goals focused on character creation and establishing the setting of Halcyon City. 4) Sample interview questions the GM can ask each character to flesh out how they first came together as a team after an initial conflict. 5) Guidance for the GM to constantly drive

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 5

    Core GM Reference Moves The Delinquent The Transformed have them answer those questions one

    • Inflict a condition • Put them in chains • Reject them at a time. The recommended order of
    Agendas • Take Influence over someone • Give or take an audience • Show how they are feared or hated questions is: Bull * Nova * Outsider *
    • Make Halcyon City feel like a comic Janus * Delinquent * Doomed * Legacy
    • Bring them together • Give them conditional love • Attack them with unthinking hordes
    book * Transformed * Protégé * Beacon
    • Capture someone • Show them the line • Remind them of what they’ve lost
    • Make the player characters’ lives • Ask questions of them the whole time.
    • Put innocents in danger • Offer a helping hand • See their true self
    superheroic Weave together their answers to paint a
    • Show the costs of collateral damage The Doomed 1st Session Goals
    • Play to find out what changes picture of the incident.
    • Reveal the future, subtly or directly • Mark their doom track • Help your players create their
    • ___________________________ • Afterward, do relationships and
    • Announce between-panel threats
    • Offer a chance to further their cause characters
    Always say... • Make them pay a price for victory Influence.
    • Remind them of what they could lose • Prime Halcyon City with plenty of cool
    • What the principles demand • Turn their move back on them “When Our Team First
    • Push them to the brink material and events to build on
    • What the rules demand • Tell them the possible consequences Came Together…”
    • Offer temporary relief with a cost • Show off who these characters are
    • What honesty demands and ask Questions
    • Go through most of the mechanics of
    • What your prep demands • Tell them who they are or who they The Janus
    • Bring their obligations to bear the game (and definitely all the basic Bull: We defeated a dangerous enemy. Who
    • ____________________________ should be moves) or what was it?
    • Bring an NPC to rash decisions and • Endanger someone from either life
    Principles • Make their lives cross over • Create an awesome first issue of your
    • Describe like a comic book hard conclusions Nova: We destroyed our surroundings
    comic
    • Activate the downsides of their abilities • Put more obligations on them in the fight. Where was it? What did we
    • Address yourself to the heroes, not the
    and relationships • Take away their mask Do these… destroy?
    players
    • Make a playbook move • Bring on the action
    • Make your move, but misdirect The Legacy Outsider: We didn’t trust each other at
    • Make a villain move • Remind them of their traditions • Build on character creation
    • Make threats real first, but that changed. How? Why?
    • After every move: “What do you do?” • Ask questions constantly
    • Give up to fight another day • Compare them to the past
    • ___________________________ • Call out moves when they happen Janus: We saved the life of someone
    • Treat human life as meaningful • Make them answer their family’s
    • Offer moves when the players flinch important, either to the city, or to us. Who
    • Make supers seem outlandish, creative, When you’re not busy… concerns
    • Frame scenes with multiple characters was it? Why are they important?
    and cool • Use splash panels • Raise expectations on them
    • Honor them • Shift their Labels Delinquent: We totally broke some major
    • Give villains drives to feature their • Draw maps • Display the adaptations to the rules to win the fight. What rules did we
    humanity • Fill in the backstory The Nova superhuman break? Whose rules were they?
    • Make adults seem childish and short- • Use time jumps • Remind them of past collateral damage • Give them a chance to talk
    sighted • Share the spotlight • Reveal a terrible truth of their powers Doomed: We paid a high cost for victory.
    • Support people, but only conditionally • Take breaks • Make their powers flare out of control Character Creation What was it?
    • Ask provocative questions and build on • Stoke their conditions • Hand out the playbooks. Have
    Playbook Moves each player take turns reading the Legacy: All things considered, we did well
    the answers • Introduce threats only they can tackle
    description of each. and impressed an established hero. Who
    • Be a fan of the PCs The Beacon
    The Outsider • Have each player pick a playbook. was it?
    • Treat your NPCs like hammers: square • Draw attention to their inadequacies
    • Draw attention to their differences • Ask questions during the process. Transformed: We drew attention and
    peg, round hole • Praise their best traits
    • Make a request from home Keep the players talking about their ire from plenty during the fight. One
    • Remind them of the generations that • Make them pay for their audacity
    • Introduce a monitor from home characters and their decisions. important person in particular now hates
    came before • Compare them to the others
    • Accept and support them in their • After they have chosen names, looks, and fears us. Who is it?
    • Think in the gutters between panels • Play to their drives
    moments of weakness abilities, starting labels, answers to
    • Sometimes, disclaim decision-making The Bull Protégé: We stuck together after all was
    • Provoke their beliefs and practices in backstory questions, moves, and any
    • ____________________________ • Endanger their love said and done. Why? How’d we keep in
    tense situations special pieces of their playbooks, go
    • Bolster their rival contact?
    The Protégé around and ask them to introduce
    • Reveal dark secrets of their past Beacon: We found signs that this incident
    • Convey their mistakes their characters, one at a time. Ask
    • Attack with someone just like them was just the start of something bigger.
    • Bestow wisdom, wanted or unwanted questions all the while.
    • Swarm with mundane forces What were the signs?
    • Hold up a mirror to them • Once all characters are introduced, ask
    • Give them exactly what they need at them to read out loud their “When our
    a cost team first came together...” section,
    • Endanger their mentor without answering the questions. Then
    Villains
    How to Make a Villain Conditions Condition Moves Super Names Sample Drives
    Follow these steps to set up a villain, Choose one to five conditions for the These are GM moves for villains to make Anarch, The Antediluvian, The August, The • To bring justice to the guilty
    whether making one from scratch or villain. You choose from the PC’s regular immediately after they’ve marked a Duke of Bone, Captain Shadow, Cygnus, • To create and enforce order
    • To defend those like them
    writing up an existing character as a conditions list: Afraid, Angry, Guilty, condition, and any time you’d make a GM Doctor Infinity, Dread Queen, Dream Tiger,
    villain: Hopeless, and Insecure. The more move after that. Emerald Lance, Gehenna, Ghostheart, • To defeat a hated archenemy
    • To demand attention and focus
    Choose a name and generation conditions you give a villain, the greater AFRAID Glacier, Gravestone, Handyman, Hashtag,
    their capacity to stay in the fight, and the Hourglass, Kingfisher, Knuckleduster, • To destroy threats to peace
    Choose a drive • Hide out of harm’s way • To free those in chains
    more dangerous they’ll be. • Flee from danger or difficulty The Lawman, Mirror Beast, Mr.
    Everywhere, Myrmidon, Mystic Mistress, • To obtain massive wealth
    Choose one to five villain moves • Lash out without thought at a threat
    • 1 condition: Barely a threat Panthalassa the Sea-Sovereign, Quill, • To overturn an unjust system
    Choose one to five conditions • 2 conditions: A bit of a fight • Plead for mercy • To protect their home and loved ones
    • Throw up blocks and walls Superbia, Photovore, Rime, Rockhammer,
    Villain Names • 3 conditions: A threatening villain Scarlet Songbird, Silent Storm, The • To prove the failures of corrupt heroes
    • 4 conditions: A dangerous villain ANGRY • To rally and inspire others to action
    Choose a name that’s fun and exciting to Spider, Starlyte, Steel Mask, Vixxis the
    • 5 conditions: A true arch-villain • Vent through unthinking violence Timebreaker, Warpstar, Vortex, Zero Hour • To seize control of threats and dangers
    you, and that signals the generation of • To take vengeance for past wrongs
    You can always adjust a villain’s danger • Break the environment
    the villain. _____________________________ • To uncover the secrets of the world
    • Shut down conversation
    and longevity by giving them more
    Gold: Goofy, fun, light-hearted names • Lash out at any vulnerability Real Names _____________________________
    conditions or taking away conditions.
    Silver: Grandiose, cosmic, epic names • Escalate the situation dangerously Alexander, Amrit, Betty, Brandon,
    Villains in a Fight Sample Villain Moves
    Bronze: Down-to-earth, simple, catchy GUILTY Chadwick, Chun, Damon, Dipali, Dustin, • Summon robotic minions
    Here are the core guidelines that villains • Seek forgiveness Faith, Hayley, Ida, Imran, Ismael, Josefina,
    names • Open a gate to another dimension/the
    follow in fights: • Sacrifice anything or everything for Joy, Juanita, Julius, Jun, King, Kyo, Leticia, future
    Modern: Meme-worthy, “unique,” clever • When a villain gets hit hard, by trading redemption Lina, Luz, Marcos, Nadine, Orlando,
    names • Create a weapon or bomb
    blows or in other situations, they mark • Turn to the unthinkable Patricia, Paul, Prasad, Ren, Rochelle, • Hide behind a lieutenant
    When it’s appropriate, pick a real name for a condition as appropriate. • Implicate others in guilt Salman, Salvador, Sita, Sushila, Santiago, • Threaten innocents
    the villain, too. • When a villain marks a condition, they • Reveal the nature of their drive Tyler, Vicky, Yi, Yuki • Explain their true purpose
    make a move from the condition moves
    Villain Drives HOPELESS Amjad, Ash, Bass, Benitez, El-Amin, • Implicate or tarnish heroes
    list immediately, before the PCs act
    • Give up without a fight Fernandez, Chan, Corbitt, Dumas, • Steal away something valuable
    Give your villain a drive, a purpose or goal again.
    • Burn down the world around them Gallagher, Hartwell, Espinoza, Kane, Li, • Transform into a more dangerous form
    that leads them to action, in the form of a • When you need to say what the villain
    • Seek any light in the dark Locklear, McCloud, Mireles, Murray, Parr, • Reveal the nature of a trap
    statement: does next, look to your GM moves, their
    • Undermine others’ beliefs Pasternak, Rayburn, Reaves, Serrano, _____________________________
    “To __________________.” Make your villain moves, and the condition moves.
    • When a villain needs to mark a • Veer toward drastic and terrible action Starling, Treadwell, Trujillo, Tyson, Wong,
    drives point at the villain’s underlying Woodcomb, Zheng
    humanity. Make the drives comprehensible condition but can’t, they are definitively INSECURE
    defeated. • Double down on broken plans or ideas _____________________________
    and empathetic whenever possible.
    • Villains can flee or give up long before • Follow the lead of someone else
    Villain Moves all their conditions are filled—don’t • Doubt and question their own allies
    Create three or so villain moves, things think they have to fight to the bitter and plans
    the villain does, both in and out of fights. end. • Admit wrongful action
    Make them descriptive and interesting, • Villains, and NPCs in general, always • Recede into the background
    active and direct. try to clear conditions—they always
    choose to open up after a PC’s
    successful comfort or support move.
    Villain Record Sheet
    Name Name Name Name

    Drive Drive Drive Drive

    Conditions Conditions Conditions Conditions


    ❑ Afraid ❑ Afraid ❑ Afraid ❑ Afraid
    ❑ Angry ❑ Angry ❑ Angry ❑ Angry
    ❑ Guilty ❑ Guilty ❑ Guilty ❑ Guilty
    ❑ Insecure ❑ Insecure ❑ Insecure ❑ Insecure
    ❑ Hopeless ❑ Hopeless ❑ Hopeless ❑ Hopeless

    Moves Moves Moves Moves


    • • • •
    • • • •
    • • • •
    • • • •
    • • • •

    Description Description Description Description


    _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
    _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
    _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
    _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
    _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
    _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
    _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
    _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
    _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
    _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
    _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
    _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
    Hooks Arcs
    Pairing: Danger vs Freak Pairing: Freak vs Savior To build an arc, follow these steps: Invasion Destruction
    Hook Impulse - Danger: To remind them of Hook Impulse - Freak: To praise immense • Choose an arc type INVASION SUBTYPES: DESTRUCTION SUBTYPES:
    collateral damage power and abilities • Build out the cast • Aliens (impulse: to subvert or eliminate • Defenders of the City (impulse: to draw
    • Fill in the phases
    Hook Impulse - Freak: To play up their Hook Impulse - Savior: To place those in power) out defenders with danger)
    • Create custom moves (optional) • Criminals (impulse: to seize territory at • Item of Power (impulse: to smash and
    strangeness and capabilities responsibility • Give it a name and description
    any cost) grab)
    Pairing: Danger Pairing: Freak Arc Types • Outsiders (impulse: to subvert or • Prison (impulse: to free the restrained)
    vs Mundane vs Superior eliminate those without power) • Authorities of the City (impulse: to break
    There are 5 kinds of arc you could make:
    Hook Impulse - Danger: To mistrust and Hook Impulse - Freak: To call out the flaws • Time travelers (impulse: to control the tradition)
    • Corruption - something good, positive,
    provoke of strangeness actions of predecessors) • Dangers to the City (impulse: to hunt and
    or helpful is made dangerous and
    • Spies (impulse: to take control of pursue doggedly)
    Hook Impulse - Mundane: To interrupt Hook Impulse - Superior: To praise the power threatening
    valuable resources)
    dangerous situations and ability of strangeness • Invasion - threats and enemies fight their DESTRUCTION MOVES:
    way into control INVASION MOVES: • Leave a trail of rubble and fires
    Pairing: Danger vs Savior Pairing: Mundane
    • Restriction - those with power place • Pour forth a horde of soldiers • Endanger innocents with collateral
    Hook Impulse - Danger: To push towards a vs Savior
    constraints on those without • Directly assault a stronghold damage
    fight Hook Impulse - Mundane: To ask for • Destruction - threats and enemies break • Secretly infiltrate a stronghold • Break the bindings on a danger
    Hook Impulse - Savior: To push away from a empathy and mercy and destroy what stands in their way • Demand submission • Destroy a public landmark
    straight fight, towards saving lives Hook Impulse - Savior: To demand defense • Restoration - the heroes push to repair • Capture innocents • Explain the necessity for destruction
    and protection for innocents what damage has been done Restriction Restoration
    Pairing: Danger
    vs Superior Pairing: Mundane Corruption RESTRICTION SUBTYPES: RESTORATION SUBTYPES:
    Hook Impulse - Danger: To infuriate and
    vs Superior CORRUPTION SUBTYPES: • Law (impulse: to outlaw and restrict) • Redemption (impulse: to draw into the
    provoke Hook Impulse - Mundane: To require • Falling Hero (impulse: to commit to a • Military (impulse: to crack down on light)
    compromise for connection rigid code of ethics) rampant elements) • Reclamation (impulse: to repel through
    Hook Impulse - Superior: To point out • Agents (impulse: to control how others force and battle)
    • Greedy Power (impulse: to wield power
    failures of control and planning Hook Impulse - Superior: To detach and
    selfishly) use power) • Rebellion (impulse: to subvert through
    Pairing: Freak distance from others • Heroes (impulse: to uphold tradition) chaos and mayhem)
    • Stolen Innocence (impulse: to make
    vs Mundane Pairing: Savior terrible decisions) • Corporations (impulse: to protect their • Reconstruction (impulse: to rebuild
    Hook Impulse - Freak: To isolate and drive vs Superior • Twisted Truth (impulse: to spin lies) interests from any threat) despite danger)
    away Hook Impulse - Savior: To highlight • Traitorous Ally (impulse: to betray) RESTRICTION MOVES: RESTORATION MOVES:
    Hook Impulse - Mundane: To make normal impending threats CORRUPTION MOVES: • Deploy surprising strength and force • Reveal a rebuilt threat
    Hook Impulse - Superior: To present • Pontificate about the true nature of • Offer a warning • Uncover an old secret
    opportunities for action things • Interfere in heroic situations • Rally the people to a cause
    • Present enticing gifts with strings • Create new rules and restrictions • Destroy the forces in power
    • Offer a temporary alliance • Reward obedience • Share a vision of the future
    • Twist the narrative publicly
    • Make threats, subtle or not
    Hook Record Sheet Arc Record Sheet
    Label:_____________________________ Label: ________________________ Arc Type: _______________________________________________________________________
    Hook: ____________________________
    vs Hook: ________________________
    Cast: _______________________________________________________________________
    Label:_____________________________ Label: ________________________
    Hook: ____________________________
    vs Hook: ________________________ Phase 1: _______________________________________________________________________

    Label:_____________________________ Label: ________________________ Phase 2: _______________________________________________________________________


    Hook: ____________________________
    vs Hook: ________________________
    Phase 3: _______________________________________________________________________
    Label:_____________________________ Label: ________________________
    Hook: ____________________________
    vs Hook: ________________________ Description: _______________________________________________________________________
    ________________________________________________________________________________
    Label:_____________________________ Label: ________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________
    Hook: ____________________________
    vs Hook: ________________________ Custom Moves: _____________________________________________________________________
    ________________________________________________________________________________
    Label:_____________________________ Label: ________________________
    Hook: ____________________________
    vs Hook: ________________________

    Label:_____________________________ Label: ________________________ Arc Type: _______________________________________________________________________


    Hook: ____________________________
    vs Hook: ________________________
    Cast: _______________________________________________________________________
    Label:_____________________________ Label: ________________________
    Hook: ____________________________
    vs Hook: ________________________ Phase 1: _______________________________________________________________________

    Label:_____________________________ Label: ________________________ Phase 2: _______________________________________________________________________


    Hook: ____________________________
    vs Hook: ________________________
    Phase 3: _______________________________________________________________________
    Label:_____________________________ Label: ________________________
    Hook: ____________________________
    vs Hook: ________________________ Description: _______________________________________________________________________
    ________________________________________________________________________________
    Label:_____________________________ Label: ________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________
    Hook: ____________________________
    vs Hook: ________________________ Custom Moves: _____________________________________________________________________
    ________________________________________________________________________________

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