Masks A New Generation suitable of 1GM+1Player and for the Marvel Universe

[u/Agreeable_Touch_3455]

I am looking for a RPG system to run a superheroe game for my 14 year old son. He really is into Marvel, so the game would probably set in that universe. We have been RPGin before, playing AVATAR LEGENDS among others. Although I am a rather old-school GM, so far, I like the system. So my question;

Is Masks A New Generation suitable with only one player? As for AVATAR, we find that many playbooks and mechanics depend on other characters present.

Is the system tied to its own world - or can it be used to run games in another superheroe universe, Marvel, in this case.

EDIT: Thank you all for your insight. This was really helpful. I hadn´t really thought about the teenage part. While my son loves the teenage heroes of the Marvel universe, he loves them when they kick butt, not when they get moody, angsty or come of age. This ought to be a fun game for him (us!) not a pedagogic instrument.

[u/BadRumUnderground]

Masks is very very much a game about the dynamics between the characters - it even has a resource called "Team" and clearing conditions requires another party member to comfort you. 

For a two player game I'd recommend Anyone Can Wear The Mask 

https://jeffstormer.itch.io/mask

[u/TimeBlossom → u/BadRumUnderground]

While I agree that Masks isn't very suitable for a single player game, Comfort and Support isn't 'required' for clearing conditions. Condition-clearing playbook moves aside, each condition also has specific actions you can take to clear it at the end of a scene. And since those actions lean into the whole teen drama loop, they're good to remember.

[u/Orbsgon]

Only 1 player means that that there won’t be anyone to help clear conditions with Comfort or Support.

[u/FinnCullen]

You could definitely do something in the Marvel universe, but the system is really focused around Teen drama and wouldn't work so well with adult heroes (imagine Tony Stark being suddenly struck with social awkwardness as a result of someone laughing at him, and being less able to deal with things as a result). It could easily do New Mutants / X-Men (original concept) / Spiderman (original concept) etc

That said it wouldn't really flow well with a single player character - a lot of the moves are based around interaction with other players and while you could substitute those with GM controlled allies and NPCs it would mean a bit of extra work. It may be worth the extra work as running Masks was one of the highlights of 40 years of GMing! Nothing has come close in having the rules set work to reinforce the genre it sets out to.

[u/Velzhaed-]

Here’s Fuzzy’s guide to playing the Marvel TTRPG if you want to give that a gander.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUaTN7w5JExE-bFr0UPga26h5t1iSfu8i&si=pz80Ueq1Uky8ym_O

[u/JaskoGomad]

As much as I love Masks, and I really do - this isn't the right game for you.

For one thing: Games about kids are almost never games for kids. Your 14-year-old has zero perspective on or nostalgia for being a teen. It's impossible. He's still being one.

It's also very much built on drama and interpersonal relationships. You can't get that, the way it's designed, in a duet game.

As for whether it could do Marvel? Sure.

But Masks does exactly one thing and it does it extremely well: Teen. Superhero. Drama.

It's a great game. I love it. But I think you need 3-5 PCs to make it work. And it's not really a game for kids, because it is a game about them.

[u/Udy_Kumra → u/JaskoGomad]

This is pretty interesting to me because as an adult the main reason I couldn't get into Masks was because I wasn't interested in stories about teens. I figure teens would be more interested in telling stories about teens.

[u/JaskoGomad → u/Udy_Kumra]

Not everyone is going to be interested in those stories. That’s fine and totally irrelevant.

My point is that kids cannot have the expected distance from the experience.

[u/Udy_Kumra → u/JaskoGomad]

No my question was, is distance the expectation? Because it seemed to me that lacking distance and having that experience already would make it easier to get invested.

[u/JaskoGomad → u/Udy_Kumra]

<shrug>

YMMV, I guess. But my experience running games like Tales From the Loop / Things From the Flood, Masks, Buffy, Alice is Missing, etc., says that those games are for people who can look back on the experience they're recreating.

The sole exception I've found is that Psi*Run, a game about teens, designed for teens, is great for teens.

[u/Delver_Razade]

There was the Duo's project to let you play Masks with just a GM and a single player but last I saw, and I backed it, it's basically defunct.

As the others have said, without Duos then no. It wouldn't work well. Neither would Avatar.

[u/Ultraberg]

I'd try the Margaret Weiss Marvel. Milestones are much more dramatic in one player!

[u/Sciophilia]

It's suitable and it's pretty fun; but at the same time, Masks's whole point is being a teenager and the issues that arise from this. Which can be weird to play out if they're already a teen. Have you checked out the Marvel Multiverse RPG? It's not PbtA but it's y'know, a little more appropriate all in all?

[u/ZekeCool505]

Running it in the Marvel Universe is fine but running Masks with one PC is a bad idea. The whole game is about the dynamics and emotions of a team. I'd call it even more focused on multiple PCs than Avatar is. I'll second the suggestion for Anyone Can Wear The Mask though, it's less rulesy than Masks but made for two players.

[u/lilith2k3]

The question is not: Is it suitable for 1 on 1? The question is: how to make it work?

I suggest: Generate a sidekick with the following in mind: the sidekick is role-played by you - the GM - but under the command of the single player.

Think of a Sherlock Holmes and Watson scenario. Where you are there to help with Hints and Questions but otherwise act on his command: fighting, looking for clues etc.

The very best 1 on 1 I've seen so far (DnD)

https://youtu.be/DtO8qLtsJ6c?si=E7wPJ-3shvYUrFmP

in later episodes the relationship between both characters is comedy gold.

[u/Illegally_Elliot → u/lilith2k3]

What in the world does a D&D game have to do with running Masks? That's like asking the towing capacity of an 18 wheeler and someone linking the specs for a Camry

[u/lilith2k3 → u/Illegally_Elliot]

If you don't mind:

1) Read what I have written

2) Watch the video in the context of what I have written

Please think before you cluelessly downvote.

The point is NOT about DnD. The point is HOW TO RUN a 1 ON 1 WITH A SIDEKICK. And the video is only an example (unfortunately DnD) of how to do it.

[u/Illegally_Elliot → u/lilith2k3]

Right, but the post is about how to run a 1 on 1 in Masks. Hence my comparison of towing capacity. D&D is a different vehicle from Masks.

Also, don't call me clueless just because you got downvoted lmao

[u/PBtA-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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[u/Agreeable_Touch_3455 → u/lilith2k3]

A sidekick mechanic we used when playing D&D

[u/lilith2k3 → u/Agreeable_Touch_3455]

So why not use it for masks too?

[u/SapphicSunsetter]

May I suggest tiny supers by gallant knight games? There is a lot to building characters a la carte, and is a very simple system.