HERO AGENDA

You all choose to be here. You might be pressured to be on

the team, you might feel guilt and be part of the team to
absolve it, you might audibly wish you weren’t on the team at
all while secretly loving it. But ultimately, it’s always your
choice to be part of the team. That’s why the team won’t
fracture in a heartbeat—one way or another, you want to be
here, for whatever reason fits your character.
You aren’t killers. You’re a fairly young team, and you may
have made some mistakes and blown some stuff up. Your
actions might have led to deaths. But you aren’t killers; you
don’t solve problems by killing those on the other side as if it
were of no consequence. If your team is interested in pursuing
more drastic measures, you might grapple with the
complexities of killing as a solution to difficult problems. But
so far, your team hasn’t gone down that dark path.
You aren’t illegal or openly hunted yet. Your team might
technically be illegal, depending on the specifics of how
superhuman teams are treated in your version of Halcyon City.
But even if you are, you aren’t yet hunted by the authorities.
Adults are more than likely making overtures to your team,
offering to sanction you or guide you and thereby provide you
with whatever legal support you need. The actions you take
over the course of play may lead you to a place where you’re
actively pursued or captured, but that’s not the case at the
start of play.
You aren’t beloved. Just as you aren’t yet hunted by other
superheroes or by law enforcement, you also aren’t beloved by
the city yet. You might be more or less well-liked, more or less
doubted, but either way your team hasn’t been around long
enough for the public to truly develop any kind of abiding
interest in and fondness for your team yet. If you’re loved, it’s
the love of celebrity, temporary and easily turned to hate.

THE LABELS
Danger: seeing yourself as threatening, strong, bloody-knuckled, and
risky. Other people see you as a danger when they think they should
steer clear of you because you might bring them harm. You see yourself
as a danger when you believe you can take down other dangerous
threats, and when you think you yourself are a threat to other people.
Freak: seeing yourself as strange, unusual, unique, and powerful. Other
people see you as a freak when they think you’re odd, unlike them,
something unnatural or outside of their understanding. You see yourself
as a freak when you accept and own the things you can do that no one
else can, and when you think you don’t belong with the people and the
world around you.
Savior: seeing yourself as defending, guarding, protecting, and stalwart.
Other people see you as a savior when they think of you as noble or self-
sacrificing, or a bit overbearing and moralizing. You see yourself as a
savior when you think of yourself as a martyr, someone who gladly
sacrifices to protect and defend others.
Superior: seeing yourself as smart, capable, crafty, and quick. Other
people see you as superior when they think you’re the smartest person
in the room, an arrogant and egotistical jerk. You see yourself as superior
when you think you’re cleverer than everyone else, and when you know
exactly what to say to make the people around you do what you want.
Mundane: seeing yourself as normal, human, empathetic, and
understanding. Other people see you as mundane when they think of you
as all too normal and uninteresting, but also comprehending and
sympathetic. You see yourself as mundane when you think you’re
regular, just a person, not special, and focused on normal human things
like feelings and emotions.

SHIFTING LABELS
When you shift a Label, it means that your view of yourself is changing.
You see yourself more as the Label you shift up, less as the Label you
shift down.
BASIC MOVES
UNDER PRESSURE
When you act under pressure, roll + Superior.
On a 7-9 the GM is going to give you a worse outcome, hard choice, or
price to pay.
On a 10+ you do what you set out to.
advanced: On a 12+ you may choose to either do what you wanted and
something extra, or to do what you wanted to absolute perfection.

ASSESS THE SITUATION

When you assess the situation, roll + Superior.
On a 10+, ask two.
On a 7-9, ask one. Take +1 while acting on the answers.
what’s my best way in?
what’s my best way out?
what happened here?
what here can I use to ________?
what here is the biggest threat?
what here is in the greatest danger?
who here is most vulnerable to me?
how could we best end this quickly?
what’s the best way to protect the victims?
what is being concealed here?
advanced: On a 12+, you may ask the GM any question you want about
the mystery, not just the listed ones.

COMFORT OR SUPPORT
When you comfort or support someone, roll + Mundane.
On a miss, it’s up to that GM to decide how badly you offend or annoy
the person.
On a 7-9, they hear you and if they open up to you:
mark for potential or shift a Label.
take Influence over someone you protect.
On a 10+, you only get to do this if they open up to you—if they don’t
open up, then no one gets anything, you can:
permanently lock Influence over them.
permanently lock a Label.
advanced: On a 12+ the GM will offer you some added benefit.

PIERCE THE MASK

When you pierce someone’s mask to see the person beneath, roll
+ Mundane.
On a 7-9, ask one.
what are you really planning?
what do you want me to do?
what do you intend to do?
how could I get your character to ___?
how could I gain Influence over you?
On a 10+, ask three.
advanced: On a 12+, you may ask any question, not just the listed ones.

SNOOPY SNOOP
When you try to sneak past someone or looking for an object/information
without being noticed and roll + Superior.
On a 10+ you do what you set out to.
On a 7-9 the GM is going to give you a worse outcome, hard choice, or
price to pay.
advanced: On a 12+ you may choose to either do what you wanted and
something extra, or to do what you wanted to absolute perfection.

HELP OUT
When you help your teammate, roll + Savior.
On a 7-9 your help grants them +1 to their roll, but you also expose
yourself to trouble or danger.
On a 10+ your help grants them +1 to their roll.
advanced: On a 12+ your help lets them act as if they just rolled a 12,
regardless of what they actually got.
DEFEND
When you defend someone or something from an immediate threat, roll
+ Savior.
On a 10+, You suffer little harm (-1 harm).
All impending danger is now focused on you.
You inflict harm on the enemy.
You hold the enemy back.
On a 7-9, you protect them okay, but you’ll suffer some or all of the harm
they were going to get.
mark for potential or shift a Label.
take Influence over someone you protect
Advanced: on a 12+ both you and the character you are protecting are
unharmed and out of danger. If you were protecting a bystander, they
also become your ally.

PROVOKE SOMEONE
When you provoke someone susceptible to your words, say what you’re
trying to get them to do and roll + Superior.
For NPCs:
On a 7-9, they’ll do it, but only if you do something for them
right now to show that you mean it. If you asked too much,
they’ll tell you what, if anything, it would take for them to do it.
On a 10+, then they’ll do it for the reason you gave them. If
you asked too much, they’ll tell you the minimum it would take
for them to do it (or if there’s no way they’d do it).
Advanced: On a 12+ not only do they do what you want right
now, they also become your ally for the rest of the mystery
(or, if you do enough for them, permanently).
For players:
On a miss, it’s up to that player to decide how badly you
offend or annoy them. They mark potential if they decide not
to do what you asked. Adults and supervillains cannot
normally be manipulated.
On a 7-9, they mark potential if they do what you ask.
 On a 10+, if they do what you ask they mark potential and get
+1 forward.
Advanced: On a 12+ they must act under pressure to resist
your request. If they do what you ask, they mark one potential
and take +1 ongoing while doing what you asked.

DIRECTLY ENGAGE A THREAT

When you directly engage a threat, roll + Danger.
On a 7-9, you and whatever you’re fighting inflict harm on each other.
The amount of harm is based on the established dangers in the game.
That usually means you inflict the harm rating of your weapon and your
enemy inflicts their attack’s harm rating on you.
On a 10+, choose one extra effect:
You gain the advantage:
take +1 forward, or give +1 forward to another player.
You inflict terrible harm (+1 harm).
You suffer less harm (-1 harm).
You force them where you want them.
advanced: On a 12+ instead pick an enhanced effect:
You completely hold the advantage.
All players involved in the fight get +1 forward.
You suffer no harm at all.
Your attack inflicts double the normal harm.
Your attack drives the enemy away

UNLEASH YOUR POWERS

When you unleash your powers to overcome an obstacle, reshape your
environment, or extend your senses, roll + Freak.
On a 7-9, it works imperfectly: choose your effect and a glitch. The GM
will decide what effect the glitch has.
On a 10+, you do it without issues: choose your effect.
advanced: On a 12+ the GM will offer you some added benefit.

HARM
Whenever you suffer harm, the GM will tell you what effect it has. Injury
severity depends on how much harm you have suffered:
0-harm wounds have only minor, short term effects.
4-7 harm wounds are serious and unstable. They will get
worse unless treated. Mark the “Unstable” box.
8-harm or more will kill a normal human, including a hero.
Armour reduces the harm suffered by the number of points it
is rated for. Enemies may not be defeated until you use their
weakness against them, and this applies to some minions as
well.

MOMENT OF TRUTH
When you unlock your Moment of Truth, you can activate it at any time:
read your Moment of Truth out loud from the back of your playbook and
follow that script. In essence, you (the player) take full control of the
narrative in this moment. The GM will let you know what consequences
arise...
After you use your Moment of Truth, permanently lock one Label. You
have changed, and some part of you has become set in stone. You
can unlock your Moment of Truth a second time through advancements.

INFLUENCE
When someone has Influence over you, it means you care about what
they do, say, or think. At any time you can give Influence to any character
that doesn’t have Influence over you.
When you have Influence over someone, take +1 to all moves targeting
them, including rejecting their Influence.
When you take advantage of your Influence over someone, surrender the
Influence you hold over them to choose one:
give them -2 on a move they just made (after the roll)
take an additional +1 on a move targeting them (after the roll)
When someone with Influence over you tells you who you are or how the
world works, accept what they say or reject their Influence. If you accept
what they say, the GM will adjust your Labels accordingly; if you want to
keep your Labels as they are, you must reject their Influence.
When you reject someone’s Influence, roll. On a hit, you successfully hold
to yourself and tune them out.
On a 10+, choose two.
On a 7-9, choose one.
mark potential by immediately acting to prove them wrong shift one
Label up and one Label down, your choice.
Cancel their Influence and take +1 forward against them.
On a miss, their words hit you hard. The GM will adjust your Labels.
If you have Influence over a teammate and you would gain Influence over
them again, immediately shift one of their Labels up and one of their
Labels down, your choice.
If you have Influence over an NPC and you would gain Influence over them
again, take +1 forward against them.

ADVANCEMENTS
When someone permanently loses Influence over you, it
means that character can never hold Influence over you again.
This is almost always best used on an NPC, to indicate that you
have moved past them and won’t be affected by what you
think of them again.
When you retire from the life, it means you’re not part of the
super-powered world anymore, and that character should be
considered safe and off-limits to the GM’s moves.
When you lock a Label, it means that Label can never shift up
or down again—that part of yourself is set in stone.
When you become a paragon of the city, it means you’re no
longer a “young” hero—you’re a peer of the biggest heroes in
the city, and you aren’t a Masks character anymore. The GM
should treat your character as one of the biggest heroes in the
city, but play them as an NPC.

RECOVERY
0 harm wounds are considered healed right away.
1-3 harm wounds improve when you receive first aid, and
later when you rest. Heal 1 when you do.
 Unstable wounds require first aid to become stable. While
unstable, they may get worse.
4+ harm wounds require a healing move, time in an infirmary
or hospital, or magical healing.
At the end of the mission, you also have a chance to heal.
If there is no chance to rest, heal 1 harm.
If there is plenty of time, heal all harm.

LUCK POINTS
Every hero can try a last ditch effort in emergencies and you can use
Luck. You can choose to mark off a Luck point in return for a lucky break.
Specifically, when you spend a Luck point, you can choose one of these:
Decrease a wound you just suffered to 0-harm.
After you roll, retroactively change the result to a 12.
You only get a limited supply of Luck which is 10. Make it count.
When you have used up all of your Luck, the GM is allowed to hit you
with more bad stuff. The universe will be looking for some payback.

END OF SESSION
At the end of every session, choose one:
Grow closer to the team. Explain who made you feel welcome;
give Influence to that character and clear a condition or mark
potential.
Grow into your own image of yourself. Explain how you see
yourself and why; shift one Label up and another down.
Grow away from the team. Explain why you feel detached.
Take Influence over you away from another character.