Masks notes
Jan. 1st, 2019 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stdesjardinsI'm starting a five-session Masks campaign tomorrow. I'm using the Legacy playbook, so I've had to invent backstory for the previous heroes in my Legacy, and naturally I've tried to work some interesting family dynamics into the premise. (Masks is a teen superhero RPG, and a good character has lots of hooks for teenage drama.)
Sara Sparks (real name: Molly Kirby) is a third-generation superhero using the Legacy playbook. Her grandfather, Alan Kirby, debuted as Flag Waver in 1971, when he was 19. He was a moderate Republican, big on "law and order" and contemptuous of the counter-culture. He was pragmatic enough not to let his ideology get in the way of common sense, though, and he worked well with other superheroes. His teamups with a hero called the Blonde Hurricane (real name: Helen Kirby) led to romance and a 1975 marriage. Helen retired from the superhero life after becoming pregnant with twins Theodore and Gregory, who were born in 1977.
In the 1980's Flag Waver became the celebrity spokesman for the Feats Not Fists foundation, which helped victims of superpower conflict. An entire generation grew up watching his PSAs during Saturday morning cartoons. Feats Not Fists became a major charity, and Flag Waver helped expand its scope, spearheading teen violence prevention programs and criminal rehabilitation grants.
Alan trained Ted and Greg, and designed costumes for them as American Star and American Stripe. Greg however rejected what he thought of as a corny image and designed his own costume, as the dark vigilante Night Terror. Ted adopted the American Star identity, but college and later medical school kept him busy and he never became a full-time superhero. He did however become well-known in the superhero community; as a doctor in Aesculapius hospital's supers wing, he's treated many of the city's supers and often helps out other heroes with active cases. He also met his husband, Tariq, at Aesculapius.
Night Terror is less well respected in the hero community. He's widely regarded as reckless, brutal, and a loose cannon. His marriage to Molly's mom was brief. Maureen Shaw was a teenage runaway he rescued from a mad scientist who was abducting experimental subjects; after she became pregnant, he somewhat reluctantly married her. He was abusive during the marriage, and they divorced when Molly was four. There is a permanent restraining order forbidding him from any contact with Maureen, and he has only supervised contact with Molly (usually by Alan, Ted, Helen, or Tariq).
Alan and Helen stepped up to provide childcare after the divorce. Molly grew up adoring Grandpa Alan and Uncle Ted, and has been planning her superhero career since she was six. When Grandpa Alan picked her up from school, they often visited the Queen of Hearts, a bakery/coffee shop owned by a former supervillain named Mark Tuttle (a.k.a. the Mock Turtle), which he opened with a grant from Feats Not Fist. Mr. Tuttle always gave Molly a great big sugar cookie, and he still gives her a free cookie when she hangs out there after school.
Dame Canada is perhaps Flag Waver's greatest enemy. In the early 90's Flag Waver was trapped inside a video game, in a fictional world where Canada was the dominant global superpower. Dame Canada, that world's greatest hero, helped him escape back to reality, but unexpectedly came through the portal with him. She became convinced that Flag Waver had somehow tricked her into altering the timeline, and has been trying to restore her own world, either by schemes to destroy Canada's military rivals, or by changing history so that Canada wins the War of 1812. Five years ago Alan received a lethal dose of radiation when dismantling her Time Warper, and he was placed in suspended animation by Ted until some way could be found to cure him.
A couple of years after that, Night Terror beat up someone he thought was a low-level thug for information. It was actually an undercover police officer wearing a wire, and a plea bargain sent him to prison for a few years, but allowed him to keep his secret identity under seal. Molly doesn't know exactly when he's supposed to be released, but it could be at any time.
Molly has recently made her debut as Sara Sparks. (She always hated the name Molly, and wanted to be a Sara.) Her power suite includes athletic perfection, Holmesian deduction, and gadgets: an impact-resistant uniform, dazzle fists (which help her distract opponents), a grapple gun, and a utility belt with various burglary and forensic gadgets. She also has programmable hair dye (Intel Science Fair Best in Category winner), which allows her to easily change her appearance when she switches identities.
Sara Sparks (real name: Molly Kirby) is a third-generation superhero using the Legacy playbook. Her grandfather, Alan Kirby, debuted as Flag Waver in 1971, when he was 19. He was a moderate Republican, big on "law and order" and contemptuous of the counter-culture. He was pragmatic enough not to let his ideology get in the way of common sense, though, and he worked well with other superheroes. His teamups with a hero called the Blonde Hurricane (real name: Helen Kirby) led to romance and a 1975 marriage. Helen retired from the superhero life after becoming pregnant with twins Theodore and Gregory, who were born in 1977.
In the 1980's Flag Waver became the celebrity spokesman for the Feats Not Fists foundation, which helped victims of superpower conflict. An entire generation grew up watching his PSAs during Saturday morning cartoons. Feats Not Fists became a major charity, and Flag Waver helped expand its scope, spearheading teen violence prevention programs and criminal rehabilitation grants.
Alan trained Ted and Greg, and designed costumes for them as American Star and American Stripe. Greg however rejected what he thought of as a corny image and designed his own costume, as the dark vigilante Night Terror. Ted adopted the American Star identity, but college and later medical school kept him busy and he never became a full-time superhero. He did however become well-known in the superhero community; as a doctor in Aesculapius hospital's supers wing, he's treated many of the city's supers and often helps out other heroes with active cases. He also met his husband, Tariq, at Aesculapius.
Night Terror is less well respected in the hero community. He's widely regarded as reckless, brutal, and a loose cannon. His marriage to Molly's mom was brief. Maureen Shaw was a teenage runaway he rescued from a mad scientist who was abducting experimental subjects; after she became pregnant, he somewhat reluctantly married her. He was abusive during the marriage, and they divorced when Molly was four. There is a permanent restraining order forbidding him from any contact with Maureen, and he has only supervised contact with Molly (usually by Alan, Ted, Helen, or Tariq).
Alan and Helen stepped up to provide childcare after the divorce. Molly grew up adoring Grandpa Alan and Uncle Ted, and has been planning her superhero career since she was six. When Grandpa Alan picked her up from school, they often visited the Queen of Hearts, a bakery/coffee shop owned by a former supervillain named Mark Tuttle (a.k.a. the Mock Turtle), which he opened with a grant from Feats Not Fist. Mr. Tuttle always gave Molly a great big sugar cookie, and he still gives her a free cookie when she hangs out there after school.
Dame Canada is perhaps Flag Waver's greatest enemy. In the early 90's Flag Waver was trapped inside a video game, in a fictional world where Canada was the dominant global superpower. Dame Canada, that world's greatest hero, helped him escape back to reality, but unexpectedly came through the portal with him. She became convinced that Flag Waver had somehow tricked her into altering the timeline, and has been trying to restore her own world, either by schemes to destroy Canada's military rivals, or by changing history so that Canada wins the War of 1812. Five years ago Alan received a lethal dose of radiation when dismantling her Time Warper, and he was placed in suspended animation by Ted until some way could be found to cure him.
A couple of years after that, Night Terror beat up someone he thought was a low-level thug for information. It was actually an undercover police officer wearing a wire, and a plea bargain sent him to prison for a few years, but allowed him to keep his secret identity under seal. Molly doesn't know exactly when he's supposed to be released, but it could be at any time.
Molly has recently made her debut as Sara Sparks. (She always hated the name Molly, and wanted to be a Sara.) Her power suite includes athletic perfection, Holmesian deduction, and gadgets: an impact-resistant uniform, dazzle fists (which help her distract opponents), a grapple gun, and a utility belt with various burglary and forensic gadgets. She also has programmable hair dye (Intel Science Fair Best in Category winner), which allows her to easily change her appearance when she switches identities.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-04 05:23 am (UTC)Hee, hee!
Dame Canada plot: interesting.
Yay programmable hair dye. Go Sara!
no subject
Date: 2019-01-04 06:00 am (UTC)