School of Secrets
The first part of my look at my Masks: A New Generation hack, “Mystery Academy.” I ran four sessions in January and I’ll looking back at that. Today’s post focuses on the mechanical changes. Next time we’ll look at story, structure, and revisions.
Thanks for that! I’ve been wanting a Masks game I could run for slightly younger kids with less dark, and less complexity of mechanics (PbtA ain’t complex, but you know, kids… so the less the better for me). And my daughter has been really into Gunnerkrigg Court, so that’s a bonus. I’ll be following this for sure. Might even see about running it. Very cool.
Thanks for that! I’ve been wanting a Masks game I could run for slightly younger kids with less dark, and less complexity of mechanics (PbtA ain’t complex, but you know, kids… so the less the better for me). And my daughter has been really into Gunnerkrigg Court, so that’s a bonus. I’ll be following this for sure. Might even see about running it. Very cool.
It was soooooo much fun to play in! From the weird architecture & lay-out of the school that we got to build to the aloof, slightly menacing indifference of the teachers, the game was a delight. And I think you can definitely play with the genre settings – you could tune it from a DC Super Hero Girls romp all the way up to the emotional intensity & darkness of The Magicians.
It was soooooo much fun to play in! From the weird architecture & lay-out of the school that we got to build to the aloof, slightly menacing indifference of the teachers, the game was a delight. And I think you can definitely play with the genre settings – you could tune it from a DC Super Hero Girls romp all the way up to the emotional intensity & darkness of The Magicians.
Interesting stuff, Lowell Francis! I like!
also, for some reason, this is the very first time I’ve really seen the game’s name condensed to Masks: TNG, and it is now mandatory in all places forever.
I’m going to keep poking at it and thinking about it, but my first question: How’re you handling “Danger” and “directly engaging”? In Masks, I sorta expect it to come up a lot, cuz superheroes and supervillains. But when I think of some of the influences you list, I would imagine it’s a rarer event. There are a couple of incidents I can think of where the kids in Locke and Key “directly engage a threat,” for example, but they’re pretty rare, and I feel like they follow a different fictional flow.
Even when I’m thinking about Harry Potter, most of the “directly engaging a threat” happens at the end of the novels, during the major confrontations—but Harry definitely struggles with seeing himself as a Danger.
I’d love to hear how this plays out in Mystery Academy, and if you have a different take on the way Danger is used in those source materials!
Interesting stuff, Lowell Francis! I like!
also, for some reason, this is the very first time I’ve really seen the game’s name condensed to Masks: TNG, and it is now mandatory in all places forever.
I’m going to keep poking at it and thinking about it, but my first question: How’re you handling “Danger” and “directly engaging”? In Masks, I sorta expect it to come up a lot, cuz superheroes and supervillains. But when I think of some of the influences you list, I would imagine it’s a rarer event. There are a couple of incidents I can think of where the kids in Locke and Key “directly engage a threat,” for example, but they’re pretty rare, and I feel like they follow a different fictional flow.
Even when I’m thinking about Harry Potter, most of the “directly engaging a threat” happens at the end of the novels, during the major confrontations—but Harry definitely struggles with seeing himself as a Danger.
I’d love to hear how this plays out in Mystery Academy, and if you have a different take on the way Danger is used in those source materials!
That’s one of the issues we encountered that the group discussed in the final session. We never actually used the “Directly Engage” move. There was some discussion about folding those elements elsewhere or setting it up as a more situational move. Like, “when a major foe has been exposed.” You’re sharper than I about that– I had to actually play with the hack to catch that would be an issue.
I have to think about the solution. I have a number of other shifts that the players discussed and this is probably the biggest issue right now.
That’s one of the issues we encountered that the group discussed in the final session. We never actually used the “Directly Engage” move. There was some discussion about folding those elements elsewhere or setting it up as a more situational move. Like, “when a major foe has been exposed.” You’re sharper than I about that– I had to actually play with the hack to catch that would be an issue.
I have to think about the solution. I have a number of other shifts that the players discussed and this is probably the biggest issue right now.