Choosing a Playbook

Each player (except the GM) chooses a single playbook at the start of play and uses it to create their character. No two players can pick the same playbook; because MASKS focuses on the team dynamics of these young heroes, the members of the team need to be disparate and distinct. If two players want the same playbook, the GM can suggest similar alternatives, or resolve the issue with a coin flip or dice roll.
The playbooks don’t tell you exactly who you’re playing; they give you an interesting starting point for designing differentiated characters who play to the themes and issues of MASKS. Each playbook has a series of issues, complications, and themes wrapped up in its particulars, and it’s important that you’re happy with whatever you choose.

If you approach the playbooks saying, “I want to play my favorite character from comics. How do I do that?” they might seem too restrictive. But each playbook is more open than it might look at a glance. They give you boundaries for your sandbox, or a skeleton to build your character on top of. The specifics are largely left up to your own interpretation and choices in the fiction.
The playbooks are flexible: the Nova playbook is about power and how you manage it—but that doesn’t mean the Nova must be a particular kind of character with a particular kind of powers. They might be a mutant with extraordinary psychic powers; a cosmic entity embodied in human form with powers over the fundamental forces of the universe; or a young witch on track to become the most powerful sorceress in the entire multiverse.
The playbooks are primarily about the kind of story the character is involved with, the dramatic issues they’re likely to face. If you have an idea for a particular kind of character, talk with your GM and your group to see if it makes sense for the playbook—chances are, there’s a way to make it work.

From Masks, page 35

 

Chapter 3 of the Masks core book has lots more great advice on how to choose and complete a playbook, complete with examples. But one more useful tip – if you have the core book, read the “Playing the X” section to find the designers intentions behind the playbook, moves and some suggestions on upgrades.

“Think about it, we could have really cool superhero names. [to himself] Captain Invincible! [looks at Curtis] Mr Backwards!”

Nathan, Misfits, 2010

Because this game features dysfunctional superheroes, a couple of rules changes to Masks are needed.

Dysfunction Move

Each character has a dysfunction, something that makes their mutation or power a disadvantage, or provides them problems in daily life. The player decides what the dysfunction is – to suggest how it may be triggered by other players against them.

The move text is as follows:

Another player or the MC may suggest that your dysfunction  causes you to fail a Move you are currently making. If you accept, describe how everything goes wrong, fail the Move you were trying, and mark Potential. If a team member bails you out of the mess caused, add a Team to the pool.

Suggestions of dysfunctions

The following tropes may be useful sources of ideas for dysfunctions:  “Blessed with Suck” , “What Kind of Lame Power is Heart, Anyway?“,  “Crippling Overspecialisation “, “Awesome but Impractical“, “Required Secondary Powers“, “Power Incontinence“, “Weaksauce Weakness“, some examples of “Embarassing Superpower“, maybe “Superpower Silly Putty“, …

Overcoming Dysfunction

You can always choose to reject a dysfunction move when you think its important – this is a story about overcoming such weaknesses. But in the long term, you can choose to grow, learn to use your powers more widely, or live with your limitations.

As such, an additional below the line advance, “overcome your dysfunction” is added.

The following tropes may be useful sources of ideas on overcoming dysfunction: “This Looks Like a job for Aquaman“, “Heart is an Awesome Power“, “Lethal Harmless Powers“, …

 

Examples:

Ghost, a Beacon, has the power to phase through matter. But this often fails if the object is made of more than one material. They try to phase through a wooden door, and another player suggests they can’t get through because the inside of the door is painted.

Ceramic, a Bull, is superhumanly strong, but they can’t control their own strength. When they try to enter the password on a computer to shut down an evil plot, another player suggests that they accidentally crush the keyboard.

Psion, a Delinquent, has the power to broadcast emotions. But usually all they can do is broadcast their own feelings to everyone within 100 yards.

Megaboy, a Legacy, has super-strength, the ability to fly, invulnerability, the whole “Superman Package”. However, their “Kryptonite” is silver. Being anywhere near any amount of silver removes their powers and causes them pain.

 

Adult Characters

In Masks, teenage characters find that all adults have Influence over them. This remains true, but if your character is an adult, then you must define a large group that has Influence over you instead. This must be something you’d expect to come up regularly in play.

For example: My Community, Authority Figures, Everyone I Know, …

 

As with Masks, you can reject and maybe cancel the Influence of individual members of that group.

“I can teleport dairy products. It’s remarkably specific, but very useful when you fancy some ice-cream. “

White Star – 2018