heybiji

[heybiji]

doodles from the last few sessions of Masks (February-April)

[heybiji]

Thank you so much for the Masks TTRPG rec! My group is between big campaigns at the moment, so will definitely have to try that one out. Are there any other TTRPG systems that you can recommend? *drags you a soapbox*

Hell yeah, I hope you enjoy it!!

I've only gotten to play DnD and MASKS, so I don't have anything else I can personally recommend. But there are some ttrpgs that have caught my interest, like Bluebeard's Bride, Monster of the Week, Inevitable (love a good tragedy), and Burning Wheel and/or Mouse Guard.

I hope yall have a blast with whatever you end up playing!

[heybiji]

ialso love playign superhero ttrpgs can i ask what the Masks ttrpg is? i love finding neww hero themed ttrpgs ^-^ yay!

Ohhh!! Hey! i love getting to talk ttrpg stuff thanks for the question!

MASKS: A New Generation is a superhero ttrpg about teenagers all trying to figure out who they are in a world filled with people constantly telling them who they are and how the world works. It's less about the powers and the fights and more about the emotional journey of the PCs with mechanics that support that. It's a really narratively driven game!

tldr: try it out! it's fun! it's simple! and it's low-prep (apparently, just not for me, but i'm always just gonna do Too Much). you want a system with mechanics that revolve around telling a story? around your character's emotions and how they view themselves? this is the one for you! it's great and i've really been enjoying it!!

First of all, it's a fail-forward system, so the way your character levels (advanced) is by missing rolls. I like this a lot.

There are ten core playbooks that are essentially the classes you can choose from. They each come with their own powers, some intentionally more impressive than others, but it's not about the powers; it's about the core conflict that comes with each of the archetypes. Here are a few playbook examples:

The Delinquent: You've got these cool powers. But everyone keeps telling you how to use 'em. You know what they need? Someone to give them trouble, to make sure they don't always get their way. And hey! You're the perfect her to do it.

The Legacy: You're the latest in a storied heroic lineage, a family that shares a name and a cause. Now, everybody is watching and waiting to see if you've got what it takes to uphold that tradition. No Pressure, right?

The Nova: You're a font of power. Channel it, and you can remake the world into exactly what you want. Unleash it, and you can do miracles. It's wonderful... and terrifying. Lose control for even a second, and other people get hurt.

Your stats are your Labels. They're how you see yourself, and how others see you. The Labels are DANGER, FREAK, SAVIOR, SUPERIOR, and MUNDANE. Different stats help with different Moves/rolls, so for example a high DANGER stat helps you Directly Engage a Threat, while a low MUNDANE stat makes it harder for you to Comfort or Support Someone. Your Labels are constantly being shifted around throughout the game as your character's self-image changes (and that self-image changes a lot, basically the NPCs are just label shifting machines).

The mechanics are fun! Instead of traditional damage, the PCs have Conditions that they take on, and what conditions a character has affects their rolls. The Conditions are Afraid, Angry, Guilty, Hopeless, and Insecure. So if you're Angry you take -2 on your roll to do the move Comfort or Support Someone, if you're Afraid, it's -2 on Directly Engage a Threat, etc. There are multiple ways to clear your conditions but the most straightforward way is to take a particular action, so if you're Angry you have to hurt someone or break something important, and if you're Afraid you have to run from something difficult. These actions lead to some awesome and surprising story beats!

There's some other stuff as well, but that's the gist!

Coming from DND, it took me some time to adjust to something so wildly different in terms of the system, but I've been enjoying it! I haven't gotten to play it as a PC, but running it has been an interesting challenge. I think it's a pretty simple system to work with, and I at least hear it's low-prep (again not for me tho lol). It's mechanically looser than the only other ttrpg I've played (dnd) and requires a lot more decision making from the whole table, so I think in a way it asks more of its players in that way. And the GM role is constantly on in a specific way, because it's up to the GM to listen and call out when a Move is being triggered and a roll should be made based on what the characters are doing in any particular scene.

anyway I can always have more to say but MASKS has been fun. I recommend giving it a shot! And then you should tell me what you thought about it!!

[heybiji]

[heybiji]

new ttrpg npc with the bad haircut and bad attitude has a name now: Arc

she's gotten away to fight another day

[heybiji]

I'm always so obsessed with the weight and fluidity in your art!!! I'm not very eloquent about Art Critique and whatnot but I just look at your art with big ol heart eyes every time it graces my presence (: <3

awwwwww gee this is incredibly nice to hear, thank you so so much!!

[heybiji]

[heybiji]

dandelion

[heybiji]

she's got a bad haircut and a bad attitude

[heybiji]

"Shh. Allow human contact to release dopamines, seratonin, two hormones that will fight your depression and really boost your mood."

I am once again begging everyone to watch the show Patriot.

the way ppl have designated cuddling as a purely romantic thing and is weird outside of that context has done widespread damage to our pack animal nature

[heybiji]

she broke her pearl necklace during her tirade and then, while running off the stage in mortification, slipped and fell over them

My dungeons and dragons bard's backstory involves her having had a meltdown on stage in front of an audience of aristocrats. See, she thought she heard people laughing and whispering in the crowd—turns out it was one of those ghosts she's been ignoring for years. The sheer embarrassment was enough for her to skip town for a while.

[heybiji]

sometimes you gotta hand-paint a cel of your dnd character

[heybiji]

westley!!! aggghhhhhhhh!!!!!! latest episode of the MASKS game i'm running for friends is gettin GOOOOOOD WESTLEEEYYY

episode 07 of Masks: Overlook City, Westley happens to run into the Smoking Man again and chooses to talk to him in private

[heybiji]

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[heybiji]

I'm sorry. I really want to know what I'm doing.