Phoenix Academy: Freshman Year (Superhero School Social Sim!)
Masks: A New Generation, Powered by the Apocalypse RPG | Campaign
About the adventure
Halcyon City. An insane melting pot of mad science, ancient magic, time travel, alien civilizations, and so much more, all concentrated on a single point on the east coast of the United States. Here there be giant robots, monsters, dinosaurs, wizards in their towers, eldritch horrors and previously-unidentified flying objects in transit between worlds. Here, chaos is the norm, and each day is one of endless possibility. And in a city of chaos, the people demand the rise of heroes. For over ninety years - almost a century, now! - people with abilities surpassing what the common man could dream of achieving have stood tall, thwarting evil plans and saving the day while protecting those without the power to protect themselves. It is a long, proud tradition of honor, virtue, and sacrifice. And now, that tradition is passed to you. You have been accepted into the Phoenix Academy, the prestigious school glistening on the city harbor with the sole purpose of nurturing and training young superhumans to protect Halcyon City and the vast universe beyond. Here, you are expected to form a team (informally referred to as a "Clique") with your classmates and go about your coursework together, whether that means researching the futuristic technology brought back by the time-travelling science teacher, Professor Positron, learning the ergonomics of super-flight from the math teacher Mister Brick, or suffering under the grueling training regimens of the once-villainous P.E. teacher, Sergeant S.U.R.G.E.. And in the meantime, if you get caught up in any villainous plots, the school's demonic Headmaster Hellbinder has his "Hard Lesson Doctrine" in place to prevent the staff from intervening on the behalf of their students... A superpowered high school adventure drama where you have to decide what kind of hero you really are while navigating the turmoil of your teenage years! Engage in the full breadth of your school experience with innovative social simulation mechanics, while also protecting Halcyon City in classic Masks fashion!
Game style
Theater of the Mind
“Theater of the Mind” uses little to no visuals for scene settings and combat. Instead, the narrative imagery comes from the Game Master’s descriptions and character action and movement comes from Players’ descriptions.
Hi! We are now nearing the end of Freshman Year with only a handful of sessions left to the end. While we welcome any new additions to round things out and follow us to Sophomore Year, we'd like to caution folks that their characters may not receive much in the way of personal storylines until the sequel campaign. Also, we have decided Sophomore Year will use the upcoming Kids in Capes ruleset, moving away from Masks: A New Generation. But if you'd like to join us, please feel free to hop in!
5.0
(24)
3 years on StartPlaying
186 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Inclusive, Storytelling
Average response time: 7 hours
Response rate: 100%
Additional details
How to prepare
Each player should have a working microphone and access to the Discord application. In addition, you will need to have your playbook ready and available, as well as two d6's (these can be physical or digital, I have no preference!).
What I provide
All of the current official Mask playbooks in a format that is easy to edit, the core rulebooks as well as two of the three expansions, and the promise of a premium Masks: A New Generation experience with tailored music and plenty of pre-planning in a comfortable and safe environment.
Gameplay details
Players can expect a narrative and roleplay-heavy campaign with lots of drama and fast-paced, rules-lite superhero action. There's a lot of emphasis on thinking of what your character's priorities are in a given situation, and there are systems in place to track who has influence over your character, effecting how hard it is to act against them. And the game's character creation prioritizes knowing what trope your character falls under rather than defining the exact extents of your powers (and I personally am very accepting of what can fall under your power set). Basically, be ready for lots of roleplay. While the campaign takes the tone of animated superhero TV shows like Teen Titans, Ben 10, Young Justice, TMNT, Marvel's Spider-Man or Danny Phantom, I'm leaving the door open to explore darker subject matters should the group be open to it. To help facilitate this, I'm utilizing Lines and Veils in addition to the X, N, and O cards, all of which will be explained thoroughly leading up to and during our Session 0.
Content warnings
Safety tools used
• Lines and Veils
• Session 0
• X, N, and O Cards
How will character creation work
Leading up to the Session 0, players will choose which of the different playbooks (essentially the class or character archetype) they wish to play, and define the basic details of their character - their name, appearance, superpowers and abilities, etc. - as defined by the playbook they chose. I will work with each individual player through their histories prior to the S0, and then when the Session 0 arrives, they will introduce their character to the team. The team will then take turns defining their relationships to the other members of their team, with the understanding that the Masks system assumes they've already worked together to defeat a common enemy at least once before and are established as a group. This will ensure each player is going into the campaign with well-defined characters to interact with the world with, and I will have plenty of material to tailor the campaign to our team's interests.
Players can expect
Combat / Tactics
High
Roleplay
High
Puzzles
Low
Experience level
Open to all
Platforms used
• Discord
$20.00
/ Session
Each player will be charged when a session starts.
Details
Weekly / Tuesday - 12:00 AM UTC
Jun 10 / Session 45
2.5-5.5 Hour Duration
3 / 5 Seats Filled
Schedule
Requirements
Experience required: Open to all
Age: All Ages