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20:37, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance.

Posted by MetaFor group 0
The Watcher
GM, 82 posts
Knows All, Sees All
Wed 12 May 2021
at 08:00
  • msg #8

Re: Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

I like Resonance!  And it is nice to broaden our international palette of characters.  I will be posting the Meta Playbook in a day or two in the private thread.

To me, the Meta Playbook is something like a Deadpool or Gwenpool kind of character (a sarcastic fanboy or girl knowing they are trapped inside a comic book, or in this case, a forum game).  I am looking forward to seeing Resonance's take on this... :-)
Resonance
player, 13 posts
Xin1 Xie2 Zhen4: The Meta
Age: 13; Sheng4 Xin1
Wed 12 May 2021
at 16:00
  • msg #9

Re: Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

Well, I have:

(*) minimal knowledge of Marvel (Marvel 1602 comic, the first two X-men movies, perhaps a Captain America movie?, various movie clips from advertisements or Walmart TVs, ancient Saturday morning cartoons growing up)
(*) minimal knowledge of Masks (never played, and only have the publisher's free website stuff and this game's playbook descriptions)
(*) minimal brainstorming interactions with other players (still RL slogging to get the Spring 2021 grades turned in, and prioritizing my Meta Tech Support duties here)

So, when life gives you lemons... make lemonade!  :)

I hope to use the above bullet points as strengths rather than weaknesses, and features rather than bugs.

I have sketched some relatively freeform character concept ideas in the previous posts above, formed on a relatively blank canvas, blissfully ignorant of whatever game mechanic or game universe constraints may exist.

On the one hand, I may know all kinds of meta-stuff via IC and OOC game threads, plus whatever I care to look up on the internet.

On the other hand, I may not know things that would be extremely common knowledge to anyone living in the Marvel universe (Deadpool?  Gwenpool?  Who are they?  O_o).

The biggest question mark I have internally is Teleportation.

(A) Should she not have any, and struggle to get to where she knows she needs to be?
(B) Should she be (involuntarily) teleported to where she is needed, like MSH FASERIP's Troubleseeker power?
(C) Should she also have the power to teleport with her rescuee to the nearest hospital, etc.?
(D) Should she have some type of specialized teleport where she makes empathic contact with someone and then can teleport physically to them?

I'm leaning toward options (B), (C), and (D) together at this point, but I have no idea what combination of proposed powers will be appropriate for game balance.  Given that they each have drawbacks along with benefits, and that there is plenty of GM-controlled stuff rather than simply player-controlled stuff, perhaps it will pass muster?  Only the GM knows for sure... :)
This message was last edited by the player at 17:51, Wed 12 May 2021.
Ricochet
player, 51 posts
Sasha Struck, age 16
The Bull
Wed 12 May 2021
at 19:48
  • msg #10

Re: Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

Hey, sounds like you could use a quick primer on the setting!

So the Marvel universe is pretty much ours but with superheroes. They started showing up in the 60s (or later, because they don't want to age out any of their top selling comics) and have changed the world ever since. There are several types of supers, of course, and the public reacts differently to them.

The Fantastic Four were pretty much the first supers around, and are now super celebrities. They're heavily science-based, and do a lot of dimension hopping and building crazy gadgets and stuff. Their arch nemesis is Doctor Doom, who usually runs a small European country called Latveria and plans to rule the world and make it a utopia like his country (the people think it's a utopia, but they don't know they're super oppressed).

The Avengers are made up of a bunch of separate supers who banded together when the trickster god Loki showed up to cause problems. The roster has changed over the decades, but the overall concept remains the same: The World's Mightiest Heroes, who come together to face problems no one of them could handle alone.

The X-Men are mutants, who are the type of super born with their powers. The public is generally terrified of them because of propaganda. They operate out of a school where their nature was hidden for a long time, and started off as teenagers attending it. Now there's a bunch of them, assuming the GM is ignoring M-Day (an event which removed mutant powers from the world almost entirely, until it suddenly didn't because X-Men sells). Their goal is to unite humans and mutants peacefully, and so they fight terrorism and are a metaphor for civil rights. Their arch nemesis is Magneto, a mutant who is terrified of humans because he lived through the Holocaust and knows what people are like when they're afraid, so he plans to wipe out humanity before they wipe out mutants.

Spider-Man! He's been heroing since he was 15, and now he's a science professor at New York University and also a member of the Fantastic Four's Future Foundation, a sort of school/supergroup for science-based super teens. Also there have been a ton of other spider-themed heroes and villains to pop up, some with no connection to Spidey. Still, he's a well-known figure in New York, as he often handles small-time crimes like muggings and bank robberies. He's got a bunch of supervillains as well, most notably the Green Goblin, who is a super evil mad scientist type.

SHIELD is an organization with vague connections to the US and world governments, and used to be a top secret spy organization but is now basically just the publicly-known high tech super police. They've got their own roster of SHIELD Super Agents.

Skrulls are alien shapeshifters who often cause trouble. The Shi'ar are alien bird people. The Kree are blue-supremacist alien militarists who get their orders from a gigantic brain. Thanos is a scary purple god who wants to kill everyone so he can make out with Death because she's hot. The Beyonder is Q from Star Trek.

Deadpool is a supervillain/antihero/comic relief/brutal monster whose insanity lets him break the fourth wall. Sometimes he talks to the narrator boxes, sometimes directly to the reader. Gwenpool is a version of Gwen Stacy (our very own Ghost Spider) who realized she's in a comic book, decked herself out like Deadpool, and uses her ability to reach into adjacent comic panels to make herself a cool hero.

That's the hugest and most woah things that are common knowledge.



As for Masks, just say what you do, and roll 2d6 plus something relevant when the GM tells you to. If you get 7 or better, things go your way! And that's the basic description of the system.

As for your teleporty powers, I'd really want to see what the Meta playbook looks like and how it's intended to operate before thinking about how your teleportation should work. Some things just feel right, y'know?
Resonance
player, 15 posts
Xin1 Xie2 Zhen4: The Meta
Age: 13; Sheng4 Xin1
Wed 12 May 2021
at 20:03
  • msg #11

Re: Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

Ricochet:
Hey, sounds like you could use a quick primer on the setting!

Correct!  And an awesome primer it is.  Very helpful to a clueless newbie like yours truly.  Many thanks!  :)
The Watcher
GM, 102 posts
Knows All, Sees All
Thu 13 May 2021
at 07:52
  • msg #12

Re: Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

We can make Resonance work.  We will make Resonance work, she is too cool a character not to.

Ricochet, great primer of the Marvel Universe.  May we use it again somewhere on this forum?

To quickly answer your question (I intend to discuss it in detail later on with everyone), I have made it where the global events (M-Day, Civil War, Outlawed) have not happened so we can live through them.  There's reading about the Superpowered Registration Act and actually having your characters live through it. :-)

It may be that the players want some events to have already happened because they like the effects of that event on the game world.  We will see.  We have the time... :-)
Ricochet
player, 55 posts
Sasha Struck, age 16
The Bull
Thu 13 May 2021
at 08:16
  • msg #13

Re: Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

Of course, Uatu!

Further exposition: The Superhuman Registration Act (SRA) was a piece of US legislation that was... well...

It's hard to explain without getting personal. I'll try to keep my opinion out of it, while keeping relevant information in.

The basic premise is that the US created legislation that required super powered individuals to register their identities with the government so there wouldn't be random people with crazy powers just doing whatever they wanted.

Marvel has never shied away from openly using comics as allegories to real life issues, such as with the X-Men and civil rights. The SRA was part of Marvel Civil War, a huge event that invited all the Marvel writers to use superhumans as an allegory for gun control.

Not sure I can go any further without becoming a pundit, so I'mma stop there.
Max
player, 37 posts
Age: 16
Thu 13 May 2021
at 22:30
  • msg #14

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

So, I just took a quick skim of the Meta playbook, and I don't think it's what you're looking for. It's designed for someone from our world who somehow appeared inside a comic (think the old Dungeons and Dragon cartoon; it's also a pretty big trope in manga). from the playbook:

quote:
In the real world you were a nobody, a comic geek that got pushed around. Now that you've somehow found your way into the world of your favorite comics, you can be whatever you want! Sure, none of this is real, but while you're here you might as well have fun and get into superhero (and maybe supervillain) shenanigans. You definitely won't be getting attached to anyone here...right?


And all of the moves pretty much play on this trope as well.




I would also highly recommend getting a hold of the Masks rules; especially as I get the feeling you've never played a Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) style of game. It is quite different from a "traditional" RPG.

For example, you still seem very focused on your power set, when honestly powers are ancillary to your playbook. As an example, regardless of your power set, the only moves (think actions) that you can perform (other than special playbook moves) are:

quote:
Unleash Your Powers
When you unleash your powers to overcome an obstacle, reshape your environment, or extend your senses

Directly Engage
When you directly engage a threat

Defend
When you defend someone or something from an immediate threat

Assess The Situation
When you assess the situation

Provoke Someone
When you provoke someone susceptible to your words, say what you’re trying to get them to do

Comfort or Support
When you comfort or support someone

Pierce the Mask
When you pierce someone's mask to see the person beneath

Take a Powerful Blow
When you take a powerful blow


Note, for example, that healing someone is not on that list. For a very big reason; there is no such thing as hit points, or a damage track, or anything like that in Masks. When you get "hurt", you mark a "Condition" (Afraid, Angry, Guilty, Hopeless, or Insecure). Now, you can help someone remove conditions through the "Comfort or Support" move, but everyone can already do that. Your powers are simply there to provide an "explanation" of how you do something. For example, if someone is 200 yards away and I want to "Directly Engage" them, I can say I'm teleporting behind them and stabbing a knife in their back (since Max can teleport). Ricochet on the other might not be able to "Directly Engage" that foe at this time, because she doesn't have a power that would let her get there. Now, what your empathic powers might let you do is to "Comfort or Support" someone at a distance, or perhaps without having to talk to them. And that's cool, but it's worth knowing that's how you'll do things from a game mechanic perspective. You can't "Comfort or Support" any better than the rest of us, you just might be able to do it in more circumstances than we could.

Now, what your playbook gives you is additional moves. For example, the Delinquent playbook (mine) adds moves such as:

quote:
Troublemaker: When you help a teammate through destructive, criminal, or rule-breaking actions, you can give them a +2 instead of a +1 when you spend a Team from the pool.


They might also let you use a different label to do something. For example, typically when you want to "Provoke Someone" you roll and add your Superior, however The Bull playbook (Ricochet's) has a move that lets them roll and add Danger instead.

Basically they help "flavor" the character based on a particular superhero teen trope.

So I would recommend before going too much further down the road of worrying about powers, you decide on your playbook, and get to know the moves; they will help you flesh out how you're going to use your powers.
Resonance
player, 27 posts
Xin1 Xie2 Zhen4: The Meta
Age: 13; Sheng4 Xin1
Fri 14 May 2021
at 20:52
  • msg #15

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

Useful tips for the clueless game mechanics newbie.  Many thanks!  :)
The Watcher
GM, 151 posts
Knows All, Sees All
Tue 25 May 2021
at 08:02
  • msg #16

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

We will get there and we will have the time to get there. Thanks to all of the other players who helped out with advice.  Resonance is quite welcome.  You don't have to do anything else for now. :-)
Mania
player, 8 posts
Andi Benton, Age 16
The Protege
Thu 17 Jun 2021
at 05:14
  • msg #17

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

Hey, I'd love to see if we can work out some relationship/influence stuff together, but I've no idea what your Playbook looks like at all. Wanna go over it and see what we can see?
Resonance
player, 38 posts
Xin1 Xie2 Zhen4: The Meta
Age: 13; Sheng4 Xin1
Thu 17 Jun 2021
at 05:27
  • msg #18

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

I am still rather clueless about the rules, and I'm not certain that the glimpse I've had of the Meta Playbook is complete.  I've only seen the one page with "Moment of Truth", "Team Moves", "Potential", and "Advancement"...  O_o
Mania
player, 9 posts
Andi Benton, Age 16
The Protege
Thu 17 Jun 2021
at 05:44
  • msg #19

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

I decided to just buy the playbook myself so I could get a good peek at it. Looks like you only have page 2 of 5, which is pretty weird. Page 4 is the one that has Relationship and Influence stuff on it. Since those bits are fully necessary to share with the other players from the start and we can't expect everyone in the game to buy this one playbook, I'll post them here for you.

The Meta:
When Our Team First Came Together...
We broke from comic book conventions in a major way. How, and what were the consequences?

RELATIONSHIPS
_____ is your favorite character and you keep trying to impress them even though you know they aren't real.

You always found ____ boring, cliche, or annoying, and ignored most of their comics.

INCLUENCE
This is all just a comic book story, so why should you care what any of the characters think of you? Give no one Influence.

This message was last edited by the player at 06:51, Thu 17 June 2021.
Counterforce
player, 96 posts
Svetlana Kragova, 15
The Brain
Thu 17 Jun 2021
at 06:46
  • msg #20

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

"In a major way", presumably?
Mania
player, 10 posts
Andi Benton, Age 16
The Protege
Thu 17 Jun 2021
at 06:52
  • msg #21

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

Yeah, sorry! I had to transcribe it, since the pdf pages are just images rather than text. I'm pretty sure the whole playbook is going to end up visible to us all anyway, since it needs to be posted someplace we can all see it as Resonance fills it out in the first place.
The Watcher
GM, 219 posts
Knows All, Sees All
Thu 17 Jun 2021
at 07:00
  • msg #22

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

My apologies for being so cagey about the Meta playbook.  It is copyrighted material (well, heck, they all are).  But the Meta playbook looks to be the only offering by its creator and thus a little more sacred.

When I get some time, I will try and get straight text translations of the fancy .pdfs that make up playbooks.  Some of this has already been done in the private thread.

In a pinch, simply copy the .pdf into a simple text editor (like Notepad in Windows) and it should show as simple text really badly arranged.  Not pretty but it is an uncomplicated format that RPoL can use.
The Watcher
GM, 220 posts
Knows All, Sees All
Thu 17 Jun 2021
at 07:03
  • msg #23

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

A private message to Mania, it is the link to the Meta playbook which I will share with any player on request.



A private message to Mania


The Watcher
GM, 221 posts
Knows All, Sees All
Thu 17 Jun 2021
at 07:06
  • msg #24

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

Quickly, I also feel that the Meta playbook may not be the best fit with what I understand about Resonance.   But there is plenty of time for that discussion and, in the end, I won't protest the Meta's use for Resonance.

Are there any other playbook suggestions that might work for Resonance.  It is still OakMaster's choice in the end, regardless.  :-)
Mania
player, 12 posts
Andi Benton, Age 16
The Protege
Thu 17 Jun 2021
at 08:19
  • msg #25

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

I was really thinking the same once I looked over the playbook. It's absolutely designed for Gwenpool specifically. I'm not a big fan of the various homebrew playbooks because they're all so laser focused on a very specific form of a character idea, usually already covered by an existing playbook. So let's see what we can do with what we know of Resonance.

She heals, she teleports, she has telepathy, she's from another world, and she doesn't seem like someone who should be on the front lines of superhoing.

First thing I think of is Beacon. She's on the team, she gives off "what are you doing here" vibes, and her powers aren't exactly world-shattering. Beacons are all about having very few or underestimated powers, but insisting they get involved with the superhero life. That fits the Resonance we saw at the event.

The Outsider is about being from somewhere else, a fish out of water who likes the new pond. They often compare our world to the one they left, and will often eventually be followed by their people and have to choose between here and home. Also, telepathy is one of the suggested powers.

Those are my suggestions, really. I kinda suggest the Outsider a little more, because it hits a few more of the check boxes.
Resonance
player, 39 posts
Xin1 Xie2 Zhen4: The Meta
Age: 13; Sheng4 Xin1
Thu 17 Jun 2021
at 22:41
  • msg #26

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

OK, I am slowly starting to wrap my head around the rules at last.

Observations:

(1) The generic Meta concept is one thing, and the actual Meta Playbook is another.
(2) The actual Meta Playbook isn't the droid that I am looking for.
(3) The generic Meta concept can best be accommodated via the Outsider Playbook, using our Real World.
(4) Resonance's abilities most closely match the Outsider Playbook.
(5) For Basic Moves, the Label droids that I am looking for are definitely Mundane and Savior.
(6) Those Labels can best be accommodated via the Beacon Playbook.
(7) The Beacon Moves and Moment of Truth match better than the Outsider Moves and Moment of Truth.

Options?  Ways to mix and match within the system without breaking it too badly?  Suggestions?  Observations?  Many thanks...  O_o
Mania
player, 13 posts
Andi Benton, Age 16
The Protege
Thu 17 Jun 2021
at 23:02
  • msg #27

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

It all depends on what story you want to focus on first. Keep in mind that one of the advanced Advances is that you can Change Your Playbook. If you want, you could start off being kinda mysterious and focusing on wanting to be part of the team while no one really wants to put you in danger: Beacon. Then later on, you can start to open up about where you came from and get introspective about the similarities and differences, until eventually you have to choose whether to stay or go home: Outsider.

Or you could do those in the reverse order, but it would probably flow better to start with the weaker powers and then gain more as you go, going from the few Beacon abilities up to the flight and toughness of the Outsider.

And that's if you're super set on the idea of coming from a normal world to this one. You have a ton of options regarding her history. Heck, it can even change mid-game. It was some 40 years before Logan became James Howlett, after all.
Resonance
player, 41 posts
Xin1 Xie2 Zhen4: The Meta
Age: 13; Sheng4 Xin1
Fri 18 Jun 2021
at 01:38
  • msg #28

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

If the square pegs of the current power set and the current Real World origin can be made to fit into the round holes of the Beacon Playbook, I think that that sounds like a plan.  :)
Max
player, 89 posts
Age: 16
The Delinquent
Sat 19 Jun 2021
at 20:45
  • msg #29

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

I'm with Ricochet on this. You should definitely not try to mix and match moves between play books, they are on the play books they're on for a reason.

And like Ricochet, matching the powers don't matter as much as what aspect of the character you want to "play up" when it comes to picking a playbook.

Do you want to focus on Resonance being a support character with less than exciting powers (eg. can't shoot laser beams from her eyes or lift a building) that is kinda out of her depth? Then the Beacon is the way to go. Whereas if you want to focus on her being from "somewhere else" and the wonder, excitement, and fear that comes from being "here", then go with the Outsider.
Resonance
player, 45 posts
Xin1 Xie2 Zhen4: The Meta
Age: 13; Sheng4 Xin1
Sun 20 Jun 2021
at 06:05
  • msg #30

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

Resonance the Beacon

Abilities:
Empathic Theme, including Empathic Healing, Resonance Perception, Teleportation...

Labels:
-1 Danger
-1 Freak
+2 Savior
+0 Superior
+3 Mundane

Relationships:
Gateway is awesome, and you take every chance you get to hang out with them.
You've got to prove yourself to Steel Ninja before you feel like a real hero.

Influence:
You are so excited to be here.  Give Influence over you to three of your teammates.
Gateway, Mania, and She-Hulk

Moves:
Straight. Up. Creepin'.
Suck it, Domitian

Drives:
Help a teammate when they most need you
Save a teammate's life
Stop a fight with calm words
Travel to an incredible place or time
This message was last edited by the player at 06:13, Sun 20 June 2021.
The Watcher
GM, 271 posts
Knows All, Sees All
Fri 9 Jul 2021
at 11:39
  • msg #31

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

Sorry I'm late to this party but, as usual, other players have met the challenge very well.  Resonance is a very unique character, I can think of several playbooks that work well enough but none seem to leap out at me.  This is actually a very good thing.  It is rare that the Masks setting actually has to stretch to make a character work.

All reading, do you think that the Joined playbook might work for Resonance with the 'Alpha' (or the Beta) being the current character Resonance is focused on?  This is just a guess on my part, no more or less worthy than any others...

http://juniorsentinels.wikidot.com/joined
Ricochet
player, 160 posts
Sasha Struck, age 16
The Bull
Fri 9 Jul 2021
at 14:35
  • msg #32

Character Creation Thread - OakMaster: Resonance

I don't think we really need to keep going, since Resonance has already finished a Playbook writeup, and even used a couple of Playbook moves om the IC threads.
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