Friday, February 24, 2017

Random - Powered by the Apocalypse


The first of these two game stats, Masks, uses a homebrew playbook that I made to represent characters like Random. Some examples from fiction include: River Tam from Firefly and Sousuke Sagara from Full Metal Panic! As such, it was meant to extend from a "normal" person who just is exceptionally good at combat and grew up on battlefields like Sousuke to someone that was hideously experimented upon and given weird powers like River. I should note I'm not listing all the options I had devised for the playbook as a whole, just the ones I used for Random.


I could have done Random in one of the other playbooks such as The Outsider, The Bull or The Transformed; but the playbooks are built with a narrative theme in mind. Outsiders are aliens and magical beings from alien societies but still societies. The Bull was transformed into a killing machine but the focus of their story is on dealing with their intense emotions. The Transformed is also focused on someone that was unwillingly transformed and is trying to deal with it.

Random lacks a society behind her to match the Outsider, she's not as driven by her emotions as the Bull and she lacks memory of being anything else and thus doesn't have the resentment for the Transformed. Her story is focused on her inability to understand normal society, something all the playbooks have to one degree or another but not something that is center stage in any of them the way it is for Feral.

For Monster of the Week, I went with Monstrous which means she wouldn't start with the Hunter's Garden exactly (maybe she could get there via Use Magic), but picking up a Haven is one of the basic advances monsters can do, so she'd pick that up as quickly as possible.

Back to Random's Story

Random – Masks – The Feral (homebrew playbook)


Abilities: You are a predator, pure and simple. Choose two descriptors to describe how your abilities express themselves: Eldritch and Stalking
Environment: Choose one to describe the upbringing that made you what you are: Unethical Experimentation

Freak +2
Danger +2
Savior +1
Superior -1
Mundane -1

Demeanor: Cautious: you are stand-offish which people take to mean that you are either cold-blooded or aggressive. Give Influence to nobody.

Fitting In: Choose three ways you have difficulty fitting in with normal people: Emotional Mismatch, Overprotective, and Animalistic

If a non-combat situation triggers one of these problems roll +Danger. For those that don’t play Masks, this is one of those tests where rolling high is bad and being more dangerous is a disadvantage.

  • On a 10+ choose 1:

o   You make a huge scene and embarrass or frighten several people or one narratively important person. Give them influence.
o   You want to leave immediately. Either leave the scene or shut down all of your social resposnes.
o   Two options from the 7-9 list.

  • On a 7-9 choose 1:

o   You attract ridicule or hatred from someone. Give them Influence. (The difference between this and the 10+ version is the number/importance of the person)
o   You are put off balance by the situation. Mark a condition.
o   You offend someone you thought understood you. Lose Influence over them.

  • On a 6- you are able to figure out the basics of how to act or at least your discomfort is bareable and unnoticed. You Mark Potential (experience for people who don’t play Masks) as normal and describe how you get through the stress without causing a problem.

Feral Moves: 

Hunter’s Solace: You have access to a place where you can go and be yourself. It might be a patch of wild nearby, a training facility, pocket dimension or anything else. Choose two positive aspects and one negative aspect. Positive: Calming Beauty, Easy Access. Negative: Feeds your darker nature.

Clever Girl: Your instincts serve you well as long as the matter concerns survival or battle. In those cases you can Assess the Situation by rolling +Danger instead of +Superior.

Watcher: Experience has taught you how to go unnoticed. As long as you have not already established yourself to be elsewhere, you can spend 1 Team in order to declare you have been shadowing a teammate if they get in any danger and need help. They gain Influence over you due to revealing you were following them. If any secret of theirs was revealed earlier in the scene, you gain Influence over them as well.

Moment of Truth (not yet unlocked):
For the moment, the urges of your instinct and the complexities of civilization are overlapping. All parts of your psyche are working in a smooth, graceful cooperation allowing you to show the best of both the wild and the city. There is no hesitation there is no doubt. You know what needs to be done and you do it. And now comes the challenge of figuring out when your actions today aren’t acceptable…

Team Moves:

When you share a triumphant celebration with someone let your emotions out in a primal way. If they roll with it mark potential. If they react poorly, ask them to choose between Danger and Freak, move that label up 1 and shift either Superior or Mundane down 1.

When you share a vulnerability or weakness with someone behave in a submissive manner. If they treat you like an equal mark potential. If they treat you as a subordinate clear a condition. Either way add 1 to the team pool.

Random – Monster of the Week – Monstrous Playbook


Charm -2             
Cool +2
Sharp +0             
Tough +0            
Weird +3             

Breed: Film Monster Avatar

Curse: Pure Drive: Cruelty
Natural Attacks: Base: Claws (Harm 2), Extra: +1 Harm (Total 3)

Monstrous Moves:

Unholy Strength: Use +Weird to Kick Ass instead +Tough

Preternatural Speed: You go much faster than normal people. When you chase, flee, or run take a +1 ongoing.

Note: The first advance would be to take a Haven similar to what the Expert has.

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