Recently my gaming group discovered Masks, a wonderful RPG that is powered by the apocalypse. In Masks, players take on the role of a teenage superhero in Halcyon City, which is full of super heroes, and has been for generations. We played through it once, GMed by Tim, and you can read about it over here on Tim’s blog. But Tim also wanted to have a turn as a player, so I volunteered to run the next game.
Masks, and other PBTA games, are very easy to run, mostly because the GM doesn’t roll dice. Also because the system contains story prompts rather than the usual bare list of skill statistics for the players. The core book also provides a very easy to follow and understand guide to setting up your campaign. If you are new at GMing, and have proactive players who are willing to contribute to the direction of the story, you should dive into Masks.
Enter Titan Academy, our new adventure. I’m going to introduce you to the characters, and then try to keeep up with telling you the story as we go. I’m already behind a few weeks, so I may just summarize the first few sessions to get you caught up.
The PCs (The characters and the playbooks they are using)
Volt (Nova)
Takar was born on a Navajo reservation in Arizona. Around the age of 12 it became clear that he was not only a super, but a very powerful one. Dangerously powerful. His parents hoped he would learn to control the surges of electrical energy that poured out of him, but after he nearly drowned in a pool and reacted by nearly killing himself and anyone nearby with an outpouring of current, it was clear he needed training. The US government stepped in and moved him to Titan Academy on the east coast, where he could be mentored by some of the top supers in the country.
Oblivion (Bull)
Liv to her friends, or Nine, or Ny . . . she doesn’t know her real name. All she has is a tattoo of the number nine on her arm, and a vague memories of being broken out of a cell by [Hiro’s brother] and being smuggled to an underground hole. There she met the Lost Boys, a straggly group of supers who banded together for safety in the rougher side of Halcyon City. Agent Rydell Parker, the local beat AEGIS officer, found her there, and got her admitted to Titan Academy, where she could receive training for her incredible strength, and the counselling she would need to deal with her shadowy memories of the Sorrow Eater.
Hiro (Protege)
Hiro is a genius with robotics and computers, something he learned from his late big brother. His brother died attempting to get information on Project Oblivion. Now his two super moms, Jishaku and Friction, barely talk to each other, possibly because Jishaku made some terrible mistake. Hiro spends most of his time working on Count Zero, a robot containing the sum total of his brother’s knowledge and personality. He’s determined to find out what happened to his brother, and become the best hacker and robotics specialist in the world. His uncanny ability to create devices that mimic other super’s powers opened the door to Titan Academy to him.
Aether (Legacy)
Ryan Minett’s grandfather is the famous Dr. Quintessence, one of the three great supers who formed the pinnacle of heroism in the golden age of Halcyon City. His father is the famed but now reclusive Dark Matter, best known for fighting off time and again the super villain Wormhole. But in their last battle, Wormhole tossed Ryan’s mother into one of his cosmic rifts, breaking Dark Matter’s spirit and leading to his departure from the superhero life. Ryan may as well have grown up in Titan Academy; it was founded by his grandfather, and his father’s trophies and medals still line the halls. As he shapes and surfs the aether and phases through walls, he does his best to keep his team together and on the path to become the superheroes they all long to be.
NPCs (so far)
At Titan Academy
Ms. Jemma Stuart – headmistress of Titan Academy
Rebecca Luna/Celestina – the most popular girl in school and magic girl
Jack Diamonte/Diamond Jack – the most popular senior in school who creates energized crystals
AEGIS (Advanced Expert Group for Intervention and Security)
Agent Rydell Parker – local AEGIS agent
Blake Harrison – Director of AEGIS
Others
Anna Fresh – local radio show personality, host of Fresh Air
Jeeves – 50s style computer found in the team’s hideout, a former super’s lair
The Geekery 