From Zeros to Heroes

About the adventure

A giant robot is smashing down Main Street. Your best friend tried to kiss you. Your mom thinks your grades need work. Your mentor thinks your team is bringing you down. Oh, and your costume is ripped. Just another day in Halcyon City... WHAT IS MASKS? When you play MASKS, you and your friends tell a story, almost as if you’re writing a comic together, each of you taking on the roles of the main characters in the story. Actual play is like a conversation, with you and your friends talking about those characters, what they do, and what happens. You’re each co-authors and readers; you get to guide where the story goes, and you get to be excited when it goes somewhere you never expected. Unlike a regular comic book, MASKS has rules that take you places you didn’t expect, keep things exciting and surprising, and guide you through what to say and when. So when you fling a car at the T-rex, instead of just saying what happens, the rules jump in and help fill in the next step. FINDING YOURSELF In MASKS, you play characters who are approximately 16 to 20 years old (with allowances made for stuff like the alien who’s actually 1,000 years old and is still a teenager in mind and body). They’re trying to figure out who they are, but they’re not so young as to have no idea at all. The trouble is all these adults around them, telling them what to do and who to be. It’s the story we all face as we grow up. We don’t just become exactly what our parents, teachers, or mentors want us to be... and we don’t completely abandon or ignore what they say, either, whether we want to or not. PLAYING TO FIND OUT There may be times while playing MASKS when you say, “Oh! I know exactly what happens next!” You feel like you have the best possible idea for a stream of events to take your character to some interesting place, and you just want to say what those are. Don’t. The characters in MASKS don’t really know where they belong, where they’ll end up, who they’ll become, and you don’t either. This is a story of uncertainty and discovery. Don’t cheat yourself out of that excitement by planning the next dramatic arc in detail. The mechanics in MASKS will push you in new and different directions, taking you places you wouldn’t have expected. So much of the fun of MASKS lies in the surprise of finding out what happens, who the characters are becoming, without knowing in advance. Commit yourself to that uncertainty—you’ll be glad you did. THE NEW GENERATION This game is inspired by the storytelling of classic and modern superhero comics, starting with the righteous gold age supers who have mostly retired. The silver age superheros battled terrible foes, rewrote what it meant to be a hero and are now at the end of their career, looking to pass the torch. The Bronze age are as active as they are cynical. And then there's your generation. It hasn't been named yet, but its inspired by modern works like Teen Titans, Young Justice, Avenger's Academy and Invincible.