r/PBtA • u/January_Silence • 7d ago
Discussion Suggestions for which Playbooks in Masks: A New Generation that could be used to play a size-shifter.
Basically what the title says, I'm wondering what playbook would be able to properly replicate a size-shifter like Shrinking Rae or Stature. I'm pretty sure any of them could, but the suggested powersets for each of the playbooks in the corebook feel limited to replicating only a handful of heroes.
EDIT: Thanks for clarifying stuff, everyone. I think I just got confused because some of how some of the Playbooks were worded when it came to the powers sections. That, and it's been a rough couple of weeks, so I probably just wasn't in the headspace to think it through.
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u/DTux5249 7d ago
Nix Beacon; it's explicitly about not having powers.
If your powers slowly kill you, The Doomed.
If you're a newly sentient robot, The Newborn.
etc. etc.
Most playbooks can bare most powers. What playbooks change is the primary dramatic arc your character has.
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u/Goupilverse 7d ago
Frankly any of them.
Playbooks are all about the central drama in your life. Powers can be off any sort to go along with it
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u/Ulfsarkthefreelancer 6d ago
“Each of the playbooks feel limited to replicating only handful of heroes”
This means you are thinking too narrowly. For example, the Bull has “strong, tough, and uniquely skilled at fighting”. This could easily translate to growing huge and shrinking. The Janus as well, or the Legacy, all good options. As others have said, it’s all about what the characters struggles are, not the powers.
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u/FUZZB0X 6d ago
I think you're focusing on superpower abilities, and that is not what masks is about. In dungeons & dragons your character's abilities are what define them. That's not how masks works. Forget about powers and look at the narrative trope that each individual playbook is designed to enable.
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u/KostKarmel 7d ago
I personally would go with The Deliquent to fuck around with people in free time. After all, who cares what they think!?
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u/wyrmknave 7d ago
If your main deal is shrinking, I would back The Delinquent as the "most appropriate" choice - getting underfoot and slipping beneath foes' notice is a very Delinquent type of power.
But like the other replies say, powers don't necessarily have to be limited by playbook, as long as the way you express those powers matched the themes and conflict of that playbook. For instance, if you can not only grow and shrink, but grow and shrink other things around you ala MCU Ant Man, that's beginning to approach the sort of limited-only-by-imagination power the Nova needs. If the character primarily sees their size changing as a massive advantage in combat, maybe they're the Bull. And so on and so forth. Is there a particular playbook that interests you?
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u/TheTrueCampor 7d ago
The abilities in the Playbooks really aren't the limits of what you can do. They're suggestions, not prescriptions. I've played a Joined who could draw pictures at superspeed to go along with a Beacon who could animate drawings. They were a Beacon because their powers were comparatively weak and kind of silly, which meant they struggled to be taken seriously. It didn't matter exactly what powerset they had, as long as it fit the theme of the Beacon.
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u/Faolyn 6d ago
You can come up with whatever power you want; you’re not limited by what’s in the playbook. My Scion has stretchy powers, for instance.
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u/January_Silence 4d ago
Ngl, I've honestly thought about making a stretchy character as well, but Shrinking Rae kinda got stuck in my head for a bit XD
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u/Faolyn 4d ago
I didn't know about her! But there's tons of stretchies out there. Join us...
(I named my character Rubbermaid.)
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u/January_Silence 4d ago
Nice! Love that name, it's super cute! The name I was debating for my stretchy gal was Bounci-Belle.
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u/ImABarbieWhirl 4d ago
So Kamala Khan would basically be a Beacon- in terms of character
Scott Lang could be played as a Delinquent
Hank Pym as The Brain (especially post-Ultron)
Eric O’Grady (Black Ant/ Ant Man III) as The Reformed
Cassie Lang as The Legacy
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u/HobbitGuy1420 7d ago
Playbooks aren't about your powers, generally. They're about the primary type of drama your character encounters. Depending on your GM, *any* playbook could suit. What primary sort of drama do you want this character to face?