Running a one shot of Masks on Tuesday for my face to face group. It’s my first time GMing it. Any tips? cc: Richard Rogers
Running a one shot of Masks on Tuesday for my face to face group.
Running a one shot of Masks on Tuesday for my face to face group.
Apart from general PbtA advice which I’m sure you already know:
1) Talk, talk, talk. Comic fights have a lot of speech bubbles, so don’t fall into a pattern of mute slugfests. Motive rants, taunts, witty banter, whatever, just have your villains talk a lot. And since they’re probably adults, don’t forget that they can (and at least one point should) exert their Influence. It’s an awesome mechanic, so highlight it!
2) The PCs should be following your example and talking a lot too, which will probably trigger Pierce the Mask or Provoke. Again, cool stuff, and it’s good to highlight that they can happen during a fight.
3) Don’t forget to do your condition move when a villain marks a condition. It’s how you keep the tension up in fights and keep things snowballing even if the PCs keep rolling well.
4) Time is a premium in a one shot. Masks has the most involved character creation of any PbtA I’ve seen; it’s all important and cool, but also pretty heavily geared towards campaign play. Keep it moving as best as you can, and of course reincorporate stuff. And after the fight, don’t forget aftermath scenes. It’s a chance to highlight the heroes’ other lives, and to trigger the celebration and vulnerability moves.
5) You have a lot of moves at your disposal, but the playbook specific ones are usually a good place to start.
6) Don’t forget to clear conditions at the end of a scene. Emotional ebb and flow is thematically important, and because it happens at the end of scene it’s easy to forget.
That’s the major stuff I can think of. Have fun!
Apart from general PbtA advice which I’m sure you already know:
1) Talk, talk, talk. Comic fights have a lot of speech bubbles, so don’t fall into a pattern of mute slugfests. Motive rants, taunts, witty banter, whatever, just have your villains talk a lot. And since they’re probably adults, don’t forget that they can (and at least one point should) exert their Influence. It’s an awesome mechanic, so highlight it!
2) The PCs should be following your example and talking a lot too, which will probably trigger Pierce the Mask or Provoke. Again, cool stuff, and it’s good to highlight that they can happen during a fight.
3) Don’t forget to do your condition move when a villain marks a condition. It’s how you keep the tension up in fights and keep things snowballing even if the PCs keep rolling well.
4) Time is a premium in a one shot. Masks has the most involved character creation of any PbtA I’ve seen; it’s all important and cool, but also pretty heavily geared towards campaign play. Keep it moving as best as you can, and of course reincorporate stuff. And after the fight, don’t forget aftermath scenes. It’s a chance to highlight the heroes’ other lives, and to trigger the celebration and vulnerability moves.
5) You have a lot of moves at your disposal, but the playbook specific ones are usually a good place to start.
6) Don’t forget to clear conditions at the end of a scene. Emotional ebb and flow is thematically important, and because it happens at the end of scene it’s easy to forget.
That’s the major stuff I can think of. Have fun!
If stuff gets slow, use your moves or edit aggressively – or both. If they are not slow – just roll with what is going on.
If stuff gets slow, use your moves or edit aggressively – or both. If they are not slow – just roll with what is going on.
James Etheridge wow, good stuff
James Etheridge wow, good stuff
Drop them into the action when they finish character generation. They’re already on the scene for a fight/mission.
Drop them into the action when they finish character generation. They’re already on the scene for a fight/mission.
Fandible rpg podcast does a pretty good one shot of masks
Fandible rpg podcast does a pretty good one shot of masks
As in any one shot (not Masks specific) if something isn’t plot-relevant, narrate past it. If it’s not vital, don’t call for a roll. Keep things moving and have fun! Now I want to play Masks!
As in any one shot (not Masks specific) if something isn’t plot-relevant, narrate past it. If it’s not vital, don’t call for a roll. Keep things moving and have fun! Now I want to play Masks!
Edward Hickcox ditto, want to play Masks. Totally want to do a “Green Lantern” powerset with the Nova playbook.
Edward Hickcox ditto, want to play Masks. Totally want to do a “Green Lantern” powerset with the Nova playbook.
Again, general one-shot advice: it’s going to have more structure than a typical PBtA game. Decide what sorts of scenes you need and steer or deposit the players into them. Edit the time in between heavily. Keep the characters pointed towards the climax. Give the characters more control over dictating scenes in the first two acts but take control over things as they close in on the climax.
Again, general one-shot advice: it’s going to have more structure than a typical PBtA game. Decide what sorts of scenes you need and steer or deposit the players into them. Edit the time in between heavily. Keep the characters pointed towards the climax. Give the characters more control over dictating scenes in the first two acts but take control over things as they close in on the climax.
con games by nature are going to a bit more on rails than one would otherwise at a home game.
con games by nature are going to a bit more on rails than one would otherwise at a home game.
Sean Britcher it’s absolutely true that con games and other one-shots are going to run on rails. The trick is to make it feel like it’s not by giving the players agency early on. They can make whatever decisions they want, but if this is the scene where they discover something, you’re going to make them discover it. Make clues if you have them noon-location specific, and when you frame scenes put the characters in the middle of doing what you want them to.
I like starting one-shots in medias res, but it’s a great tool for getting thing back on track too. Eg: “Okay, Creature and Tremor, you were going to check out the subway. You followed a suspicious creature onto the tracks and found an abandoned station. Full of the weird creatures. They’re coming after you and there’s A LOT of them. What do you do?” Then use other character moves like the Bull move that lets them just show up somewhere to bring in the others. When you frame scenes, don’t just point the characters in the direction you want them to head, put them in the middle of getting there.
Maybe even more important is really quickly judging your players. If you can pick out the players who are going to be a problem as far as cooperating and following the path you want them to, pick them up and put them on that path and let the other characters follow along. Then the other characters can lead from there, but you’ve included the trouble player who you might otherwise have left out. Tight scene framing is your friend.
Sean Britcher it’s absolutely true that con games and other one-shots are going to run on rails. The trick is to make it feel like it’s not by giving the players agency early on. They can make whatever decisions they want, but if this is the scene where they discover something, you’re going to make them discover it. Make clues if you have them noon-location specific, and when you frame scenes put the characters in the middle of doing what you want them to.
I like starting one-shots in medias res, but it’s a great tool for getting thing back on track too. Eg: “Okay, Creature and Tremor, you were going to check out the subway. You followed a suspicious creature onto the tracks and found an abandoned station. Full of the weird creatures. They’re coming after you and there’s A LOT of them. What do you do?” Then use other character moves like the Bull move that lets them just show up somewhere to bring in the others. When you frame scenes, don’t just point the characters in the direction you want them to head, put them in the middle of getting there.
Maybe even more important is really quickly judging your players. If you can pick out the players who are going to be a problem as far as cooperating and following the path you want them to, pick them up and put them on that path and let the other characters follow along. Then the other characters can lead from there, but you’ve included the trouble player who you might otherwise have left out. Tight scene framing is your friend.
It went well!
It went well!