Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Gorgon Archer's Teammates - Masks

I probably won't do this for every character but I may go back and do it for the Gorgon examples for Monster of the Week, City of Mist, 7th Sea, and a few other games with a heavy team interaction focus. I'm not going to do the full simulation but I will show their beginning and ending states. They all will get 12 improvements on the idea that Vermin may have joined late but may also have had worse luck on the rolls or produced more Potential in some other way. It just makes things easier.

Beginning Stats


Eilonwy - The Janus


Real Name: Ellen Kinsey
Look: Woman, Black, Elegant Clothing, Iconic Costume, Glamoured Disguise

Abilities: You have heightened physical abilities (strength, agility, toughness) and choose two unique abilities. Impossible Mobility, Supernatural Senses

Danger +0
Freak -1
Savior +0
Superior +1
Mundane +3

Backstory
When did you first put on the mask? Why? When I was killed by Cauldron and raised by Grimm.
Why do you keep a secret identity? For the benefit of my loved ones.
Who, outside of the team, knows about your dual identity? Cauldron
Who thinks the worst of your masked identity? My mother considers Eilonwy an unholy ghost.
Why do you care about the team? They saved me from death.

Relationships
Grimm knew you from your civilian life first.
You refused to tell Mariah your secret identity when they asked. Didn't want to admit to being dead.

Influence
Mariah and Grimm have Influence over you.

Moves
The Mask: You wear a mask (in this case, she drops a glamour to reveal she's undead) and hide your real indentity. Choose what Label you try to embody while wearing your mask: Savior
Once per session, you can affirm either your heroic or secret identity to switch your Mundane with your Mask's Label.
When you reveal your secret identity to someone who didn't know it already, mark Potential.

Mild-Mannered: When you try to use your civilian identity to deceive, trick, or slip past someone, roll +Mundane. On a hit they buy your façade. On a 7-9, choose one:
  • You're still under observation.
  • You leave something incriminating behind.
  • You're forced to make a fool of yourself.
On a miss, one of your civilian obligations rears its head.

Dangerous Web: When you reveal a trap you've left for someone using your powers, roll +your Mask's Label. On a hit, your opponent trips into it, and you get an opening or opportunity against them. On a 10+, take a +1 forward to pursuing it. On a miss, the trap inadvertently leads to a dangerous escalation.

Secret Identity
Obligations: Family, Boyfriend, Schoolwork

When time passes, roll +Mundane to see how you're managing your civilian life. On a hit (7+) things are going fairly well and you get an advantage or opportunity from your civilian life. On a 7-9 you've let one of your obligations slip, your choice. On a miss (6-) you haven't given your normal life anywhere near the attention it deserves and the GM chooses two obligations which will bite you in the butt.

Grimm - The Doomed


Real Name: Tom Wenschel
Look: Man, White, haunted eyes, unassuming clothing, grim costume

Abilities: Vitality Absorption, Necromancy, Telekinesis

Nemesis: Cauldron, the dark necromancer

Danger +1
Freak +1
Savior +1
Superior +0
Mundane +0

Backstory
When did you first learn of your doom? After stealing some of the power Cauldron was using.
Where did you get your sanctuary? Drawn there by a vision.
Why do you oppose your nemesis? He seeks to turn the world into a kingdom of the dead.
Who, outside of the team, is crucial to defeating your nemesis? The Morrigan
Why does the team matter to you? They were there when I first was doomed.

Relationships
You told Mariah all about your doom and the danger you're in.
You'd love to kiss Eilonwy before your doom comes.

Influence
Mariah and Eilonwy both have Influence over you.

Doom
What is your Doom? Becoming an evil sorcerer like Cauldron
What brings your Doom closer? Injuring innocents, frightening loved ones

Doom Track: OOOOO
When the track fills, clear it and take a Doom Sign. When you have unlocked all of your Doom Signs, your Doom arrives the next time your Doom Track fills.

Doom Signs

Dark Vision: Mark your doom track to have a vision about the situation at hand. After the vision, ask the GM a question; they will answer it honestly.

Sanctuary
Features: A library of valuable tomes, a meditation space, and a scattering of ancient relics.
Downsides: Difficult to access, draws dangerous attention

When you call upon the resources of your sanctuary to solve a problem, say what you want to do. The GM will give you one to four conditions you must fulfill to complete your solution.
  • First, you must ___________.
  • You'll need help from __________.
  • You and your team will risk danger from ___________.
  • The best you can do is a lesser version, unreliable and limited.
  • You'll need to mark one box on your doom track.
  • You'll have to obtain _____________.

Vermin - The Bull


Real name: Unknown
Look: Ambiguous gender and ethnicity, unnaturally pristine skin, casual clothing, no costume

Abilities: Someone or something changed you, made you into a perfect weapon: superhumanly tough, incredibly strong, and uniquely skilled at fighting. Decide how each of those abilities manifest. Vermin is a living nanite swarm that can approximate a human form, a swarm of insects, or a pack of rats. Their component pieces cannot travel far apart from each other, however.

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

Backstory
Who changed you? Vermin was kidnapped and reprogrammed to a Revenant assassin.
How did you escape from them? The Revenant tech tried to consume them when they were compromised, but much of their mind and personality overwrote the nanite swarm code.
Who, outside of the team, tries to take care of you now? Quinn Harolds, the mayor's secretary and secret head of the Metahuman Concerns.
Why do you try to be hero? It makes me feel more human.
Why do you care about the team? They stopped me from becoming a villain.

Relationships
Mariah is your love. You've opened up to them about the worst parts of your past.
Grimm is your rival. They tried to control you at a crucial moment.

Influence
Mariah and Grimm have Influence over you.

Moves
Thick and Thin-Skinned: Whenever you have Angry marked, take a +1 ongoing to unleash your powers.

Physics? What physics?: When you unleash your powers to barrel through an insurmountable barrier, roll +Danger instead of +Freak.

The Bull's Heart
You always have exactly one love and one rival. You can change your love or rival at any time; give the new subject of your affections or disdain Influence over you. Take a +1 ongoing to any action that impresses your love or frustrates your rival. As a note, love does not necessarily mean romantic love.

Choose a role you commonly fulfill for your love or rival:

Friend: When you comfort or support your love or rival, mark Potential on a hit. When your love or rival comforts or supports you, mark Potential when they roll a hit.

Ending Stats


Eilonwy - The Janus The Nova


Real Name: Ellen Kinsey
Look: Woman, Black, Elegant Clothing, Iconic Costume, Glamoured Disguise

Abilities: You have heightened physical abilities (strength, agility, toughness) and choose two unique abilities. Impossible Mobility, Supernatural Senses, Undead Sorcery

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

Backstory
When did you first put on the mask? Why? When I was killed by Cauldron and raised by Grimm.
Why do you keep a secret identity? For the benefit of my loved ones.
Who, outside of the team, knows about your dual identity? Cauldron
Who thinks the worst of your masked identity? My mother considers Eilonwy an unholy ghost.
Why do you care about the team? They saved me from death.

Relationships
Grimm knew you from your civilian life first.
You refused to tell Mariah your secret identity when they asked. Didn't want to admit to being dead.

Influence
Has Influence on Grimm and Mariah
Vermin and Grimm have Influence over her

Moves
Janus Move: Dangerous Web: When you reveal a trap you've left for someone using your powers, roll +your Mask's Label. On a hit, your opponent trips into it, and you get an opening or opportunity against them. On a 10+, take a +1 forward to pursuing it. On a miss, the trap inadvertently leads to a dangerous escalation.

Outsider Move: Kirby-Craft: You have a vehicle from your home. Detail its look and choose two strengths and two weaknesses. You can use it to unleash your powers, directly engage a threat, or defend someone using Superior. It's a ghostly car, sort of a modern variation of death's carriage.
Strengths: Telepathic, Dimensional-shifting
Weaknesses: Susceptible to banishing, Difficult to repair

Adult Move: Empathize: When you openly empathize with someone, roll +Mundane. On a hit they must reveal a vulnerability or mark a condition. On 10+ you take Influence over them as well.

Burn
When you charge your powers, roll +Conditions you currently have marked. (Basically the more hurt/emotional you are, the more easily you draw on power). On a hit hold 3 Burn. On a 7-9 mark a condition. On a miss, hold 2 burn and mark 3 conditions.

Flares:

Boost: Spend 1 burn to supercharge a teammate's efforts with your powers, giving them +1 as if you had spent from the Team pool

Constructs: Spend 1 burn to create an object up to the size of a person. Spend 1 additional burn to animate it independently of yourself. The construct dissolves at the end of the scene.

Elemental Awareness: Spend 1 burn and mark a condition to open your mind up to the world around you with your powers. You can ask any one question about the world around you and the GM will answer you honestly.

Moat: Spend 1 burn to create a barrier that will hold back threats as long as you hold your attention on it. The GM might ask you to spend an additional burn if it is threatened by particularly powerful enemies.

Move: Spend 1 burn to move to any place you choose within the scene, breaking through or slipping past any barriers or restraints in your way. Spend a second burn to move to any place you've previously been.

Overcharge: You channel the full capacity of your incredible powers to overcome an obstacle, reshape an environment, or extend your senses. Spend 2 burn to automatically take 10+ when you unleash your powers.

Reality Storm: You channel a destructive burst with your powers. Spend 1 burn to directly engage a threat and roll +Freak instead of +Danger. If you do, you will cause unwanted collateral damage unless you spend an additional burn.

Shielding: You call up a fast protective field to stop a danger. Spend 1 burn to defend someone else from an immediate threat rolling +Freak instead of +Savior.

Snatch: Spend 1 burn to use your powers to seize any one object up to the size of a person from someone within view.

Worship: You put out a tremendous display of your might. Spend 1 burn to awe an audience into silence, respect, and attention when you unleash your powers.

Civilian Identity
Obligations: Family, Husband, Teaching Job

When time passes, roll +Mundane to see how you're managing your civilian life. On a hit (7+) things are going fairly well and you get an advantage or opportunity from your civilian life. On a 7-9 you've let one of your obligations slip, your choice. On a miss (6-) you haven't given your normal life anywhere near the attention it deserves and the GM chooses two obligations which will bite you in the butt.

The Bull's Heart
You always have exactly one love and one rival. You can change your love or rival at any time; give the new subject of your affections or disdain Influence over you. Take a +1 ongoing to any action that impresses your love or frustrates your rival. As a note, love does not necessarily mean romantic love.

Choose a role you commonly fulfill for your love or rival:

Listener: When you pierce the mask of your love or rival, you can always let them ask you a question to ask them an additional question, even on a miss. These additional questions do not have to be on the normal list.

Improvements
Take another Move from your playbook: I'll Save you
Someone Permanently Loses Influence, +1 to a Label: Mother
Unlock your Moment of Truth
Take a move from another playbook: Kirby-Craft
Change you Mask's Label: Superior, +1 to a Label
Change Playbooks: Nova: Sorcery; Burn; Flares: Boost, Shielding, Worship, Moat; Lose Mild-Mannered and The Mask
Take an Adult Move: Empathize
Unlock three new Flares: Overcharge, Reality Storm, Constructs
Take the Bull's Heart
Unlock three new Flares: Elemental Awareness, Snatch, Move
Rearrange Labels, +1 to a Label
Retire to a position as a teacher of metahumans


Grimm - The Doomed Remnant - The Beacon


Real Name: Tom Wenschel
Look: Man, White, haunted eyes, unassuming clothing, grim costume

Abilities: Minor Magics, Acrobatics

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

Backstory
When did you first learn of your doom? After stealing some of the power Cauldron was using.
Where did you get your sanctuary? Drawn there by a vision.
Why do you oppose your nemesis? He seeks to turn the world into a kingdom of the dead.
Who, outside of the team, is crucial to defeating your nemesis? The Morrigan
Why does the team matter to you? They were there when I first was doomed.

Relationships
You told Mariah all about your doom and the danger you're in.
You'd love to kiss Eilonwy before your doom comes.

Influence
Vermin, Mariah, and Eilonwy have Influence over him.
Has Influence over Eilonwy and Vermin

Moves
Delinquent Move: Mary Contrary: When someone tries to pierce your mask, comfort or support you, or provoke you you can interfere. Roll +Superior, on a hit they take a -2 on their roll. On a 10+ you also take Influence over them or clear a condition. On a miss, they get 10+ no matter what they rolled and you mark a condition of their choice.

Delinquent Move: Are you Watching Closely: When you mislead, distract, or trick someone roll +Superior. On a hit they are fooled, at least for a moment. On a 10+ choose three. On a 7-9 choose two.
  • You get an opportunity.
  • You expose a weakness or a flaw.
  • You confuse them for some time.
  • You avoid further entanglement.
On a miss, you are hopelessly embroiled in it and under pressure, mark a condition.

Beacon Move: Straight up Creeping: When you scope out a person or place, roll +Mundane. On a 10+ ask two. On a 7-9 ask one.
  • What's my best way in/out?
  • What happened here recently?
  • What here is worth grabbing?
  • Who or what here is not what they seem?
  • Whose place is this?
On a miss, you find yourself in over your head. The GM will tell you why this is a bad spot.

Beacon Move: Won't Let You Down: When you help a teammate, you can spend 2 out of the Team pool to add +2 to their roll.

Beacon Move: Suck it, Domitian: When you strand strong while dramatically under fire. Roll +Savior instead of +Danger to Directly Engage a Threat.

Adult Move: Persuade with Best Interests: When you persuade some with their best interests roll +Superior. If they're an NPC on a 10+ they buy it and act accordingly. On a 7-9 they need concrete assurances right now.
If they're a PC, on a hit they can mark Potential or shift their own labels if they do what you want. If you roll a 10+ take Influence over them as well.

Burn
When you charge your powers, roll +Conditions you currently have marked. (Basically the more hurt/emotional you are, the more easily you draw on power). On a hit hold 3 Burn. On a 7-9 mark a condition. On a miss, hold 2 burn and mark 3 conditions.

Flares:

Boost: Spend 1 burn to supercharge a teammate's efforts with your powers, giving them +1 as if you had spent from the Team pool

Constructs: Spend 1 burn to create an object up to the size of a person. Spend 1 additional burn to animate it independently of yourself. The construct dissolves at the end of the scene.

Move: Spend 1 burn to move to any place you choose within the scene, breaking through or slipping past any barriers or restraints in your way. Spend a second burn to move to any place you've previously been.

Drives 
Choose four drives to mark the start of play. When you fulfill a drive, cross it out and choose one: Mark Potential, Clear a condition, Take Influence over someone involved.

When your four drives are all struck out, choose four more drives. When all drives are struck out, change playbooks, retire from the life, or become a paragon. (This is interesting as it presents a way to shift to a third playbook)

Lead the team successfully in battle
Get a new hero name
Travel to an incredible place or time
Save a teammate's life. 
Reject someone who tells you "You shouldn't be here."
Get a new costume
Kiss someone dangerous
Take down a threat all on your own
Break up with someone
Earn the respect of a hero you admire
Stop a fight with calm words
Punch out a teammate

Sanctuary
Features: A library of valuable tomes, a meditation space, and a scattering of ancient relics.
Downsides: Difficult to access, draws dangerous attention

When you call upon the resources of your sanctuary to solve a problem, say what you want to do. The GM will give you one to four conditions you must fulfill to complete your solution.
  • First, you must ___________.
  • You'll need help from __________.
  • You and your team will risk danger from ___________.
  • The best you can do is a lesser version, unreliable and limited.
  • You'll need to mark one box on your doom track.
  • You'll have to obtain _____________.
Improvements
Get Burn and three Flares: Move, Boost, Constructs
Someone permanently loses influence over you, +1 to a Label: Cauldron
Take a move from another playbook: Mary Contrary
Take a move from another playbook: Are You Watching Closely?
Unlock Moment of Truth
Take an adult move: Persuade with Best Interests
Confront your Doom on your terms, if you survive, change Playbooks: Beacon; Lose Doom Signs, Lose Doom, Lose Vitality Absorption, Lose Telekinesis.  Necromancy becomes Minor Magics. Gain Acrobatics. Straight up Creeping, Won't Let You Down, Drives
Rearrange your Labels, +1 to Labels
Unlock Moment of Truth
Someone permanently loses Influence over you: Circe
Take a move from your playbook: Suck it Domitian
Become a paragon of the city

Vermin - The Bull


Real name: Unknown
Look: Ambiguous gender and ethnicity, unnaturally pristine skin, casual clothing, no costume

Abilities: Someone or something changed you, made you into a perfect weapon: superhumanly tough, incredibly strong, and uniquely skilled at fighting. Decide how each of those abilities manifest. Vermin is a living nanite swarm that can approximate a human form, a swarm of insects, or a pack of rats. Their component pieces cannot travel far apart from each other, however.

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

(Note, I am incredibly amused that Vermin, the sentient nanite swarm that may be an AI or may be the transferred consciousness of an unknown person, is the character whose self-image is the most "I'm just a normal person" out of all four of the characters. The only character with minimal Freak and maximum Mundane. Of course, they also view themselves as very dangerous.)

Backstory
Who changed you? Vermin was kidnapped and reprogrammed to a Revenant assassin.
How did you escape from them? The Revenant tech tried to consume them when they were compromised, but much of their mind and personality overwrote the nanite swarm code.
Who, outside of the team, tries to take care of you now? Quinn Harolds, the mayor's secretary and secret head of the Metahuman Concerns.
Why do you try to be hero? It makes me feel more human.
Why do you care about the team? They stopped me from becoming a villain.

Relationships
Mariah is your love. You've opened up to them about the worst parts of your past.
Circe is your rival. She demands much of Mariah's time.

Influence
Mariah and Grimm have Influence over you.

Moves
Bull Move: Thick and Thin-Skinned: Whenever you have Angry marked, take a +1 ongoing to unleash your powers.

Bull Move: Physics? What physics?: When you unleash your powers to barrel through an insurmountable barrier, roll +Danger instead of +Freak.

Transformed Move: Unstoppable: When you smash your way through the scenery to get to or away from something roll +Danger. On a hit the world breaks before you and you get what you want. On a 7-9 choose one: Mark a Condition, Leave something behind, or take something with you. (These are not good things). On a miss you smash through, but leave devastation in your wake or wind up somewhere worse. GM's Choice.

Bull Move: There When it Matters: When you defend someone on a hit you can hold 1 instead of choosing one from the list. Spend your hold when they are in danger later to arrive on the scene ready to help.

Bull Move: In a China Shop: When you directly engage a threat you can cause significant collateral damage to your environment in order to choose an additional option even on a miss.

Adult Move: Overwhelm a Vulnerable Foe: When you overwhelm a vulnerable foe roll +Danger. on a hit fight's over. They're done. On a 10+ choose one, on a 7-9 choose two.
  • You take a powerful blow in return.
  • You hurt your foe more than you intended.
  • You cause serious collateral damage.
Adult Move: Stand Up For Something: When you stand up for something roll +Savior, on a 10+ choose two, on a 7-9 choose one.
  • Listeners can't keep doing what they're doing.
  • Listeners can't flee without addressing you.
  • Listeners can't attack you without losing status or position.

The Bull's Heart
You always have exactly one love and one rival. You can change your love or rival at any time; give the new subject of your affections or disdain Influence over you. Take a +1 ongoing to any action that impresses your love or frustrates your rival. As a note, love does not necessarily mean romantic love.

Choose a role you commonly fulfill for your love or rival:

Friend: When you comfort or support your love or rival, mark Potential on a hit. When your love or rival comforts or supports you, mark Potential when they roll a hit.

Defender: When you leap to defend your love or rival in battle, roll +Danger instead +Savior to defend them.

Enabler: When you provoke your love or rival, roll +Danger if you are trying to provoke them to rash or poorly thought out action.

Improvements
Take Move from Another Playbook: Unstoppable
Take a Bull Move: There when it matters
Choose another two roles from The Bull's Heart: Defender, Enabler
Someone Permanently Loses Influence over you, +1 to a Label: The Revenant Queen
Unlock Moment of Truth
Adult Move: Overwhelm a Vulnerable Foe
Take a Bull Move: In a China shop
Adult Move: Stand up for Something
Rearrange Labels, +1 to a Label
Lock a Label: Danger, +1 to a Label
Unlock Moment of Truth a second time.
Become a paragon of the city

Gorgon Archer - Masks Character Creation
Gorgon Archer - Masks Advancement
Character Creation and the Gorgon Archer

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