This is a series of four sessions of Masks in September on Sunday afternoons (BST). (Though I may look to extend it into a longer series closer to the time) Masks is a PbtA game of young superheroes by Magpie Games. General sign-ups will be available in 72 hours time (August 3rd). This game will be played using the Open Table policy, so there is no need to commit to the full run. Though as with many PbtA games the play experience is often better over multiple sessions but characters dropping in and out will be fine. Our first session is likely to be primarily a Session Zero, so I would advise against only signing up for the first session. Sessions will be three hours in length, and we will play using Zoom. This game will be recorded, and may be released on Youtube with the consent of all participants. This game is part of the Gauntlet Comics shared world.
Masks is a game about young superheroes who struggle not only with defeating supervillains and protecting the city, but with how they see themselves and in return are seen by the world. A game of testing the limits of your power and your emotions. In this game in particular, I want to focus in on the tensions between being a regular kid and a superhero with the backdrop of an average high school. While there will be blockbusting action and high stakes, I also want to take a look into what it means to be an average person living in a world of superheroes, and plenty of teen drama. I’d say imagine the Riverdale TV series if Archie was a masked vigilante but that actually happened, so…
Samuel Klaymann Public High School is a perfectly normal school at the edge of an extraordinary city. Where New Gauntlet City starts to bleed into the suburbs, life here is about as quiet as things get in a city that is at the centre of the superhero world. And a group of kids - maybe friends, maybe rivals, maybe something more - are returning for a new term. The summer holidays have been filled with the usual teen activities: hanging out, hitting the beach, going through heartbreak, and forming a superhero team-up to take on a dangerous foe. We’ll follow them as they get through classes, make friends, and save the world from almost certain destruction.
Content Warning: Masks is based on superhero media, and as such the tone and content will take its lead from that - there will be high-action combat and peril, but we will avoid graphic or gratuitous violence or sexual content. With a high school setting there may also be some mention of topics like bullying and related social dynamics, but we will not be going full Monsterhearts with this. A core feature of the game is also being told your place in the world, particularly be adults. We will have a discussion on tone and content before the game begins, as well as establishing Lines & Veils to provide a comfortable play experience. This game will take place under the Gauntlet Community Code of Conduct and the safety tools Script Change and X-Card will be in use. I will aim to get in touch with participants through either the Gauntlet Slack or email a week in advance of the game to confirm attendance and provide play materials (we will be using a curated list of playbooks for this game).
Session 1 2020-09-06T12:30:00Z → 2020-09-06T15:30:00Z
Session 2 2020-09-13T12:30:00Z → 2020-09-13T15:30:00Z
Session 3 2020-09-20T12:30:00Z → 2020-09-20T15:30:00Z
Session 4 2020-09-27T12:30:00Z → 2020-09-27T15:30:00Z