Tavern Watch Plays Masks, Episode 1: The trouble with team names

It’s time for some superhero action as the team dives into Masks, where we find out just how tough it is to pull a superhero team together. (The name. You’ve gotta have a name.) If you like Young Justice, Young Avengers, and Teen Titans, you’ll probably like this game. (And I happen to think we came up with a pretty good superhero group.)

GM Phil Ulrich helps our young heroes find their footing in Halcyon City, with a crew of misfits (and maybe heroes?). Here’s our team:

• Joan as Vida, aka Little Marvel (Beacon). At just five inches tall, you could miss Vida entirely (or only see her service dog Lobo), but she’s determined to prove that she can be a hero despite her size.
• Joe as Alex and T.L.O.N., aka Talons (The Host/ed). After a lab accident, Alex found themself merged with T.L.O.N., the Tailored Living Organism Neuropathic-Connection. Living with T.L.O.N. is sometimes complicated, but Alex is committed to using his new powers to help others.
• Matt as Arvana, aka Shrike (Scion). The daughter of interdimensional conqueror Nabasu the Annihilation, Shrike led her father’s armies to earth. But, impressed by the heroes of Halcyon City, she decided work with these heroes and turn against Nabasu.
• Liz as Charlie, aka Jade X  (Delinquent). Charlie has a habit of getting into (and usually out of) trouble using her power to create illusions. But when she finally got caught, one of the agents of A.E.G.I.S. saw her potential and assigned her to a team of young heroes for training.

This is the first in a three-part game of Masks: A New Generation by Magpie Games, and if you enjoyed it you can listen to episode 2 next! If you like our game, you can pick it up for yourself from Magpie or DriveThruRPG. It’s a Powered by the Apocalypse game, so characters are based on playbooks, and there are some great fan-made playbooks that expand on the official options. Joe played with a custom playbook called The Host/ed, which you can find here if you’re interested.

Music for this game is “Hero Stuff,” written and performed by Joseph Perez/Mad Shaman Studios. (Hey! We know that guy!)

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For more Tavern Watch, check out all of our recent episodes, including Legend in Mist, which was a cozy fantasy romp in a system with incredibly flexible character customization. Here’s the first episode if you want to see what the game is like! We have new games almost every week, so follow if you want to keep up!

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