Beyond the Superhero Squad
Most superhero games treat teams as tactical units - combinations of powers and abilities working toward common goals. Masks treats teams as found families, support networks, and crucibles for personal growth. Your team isn't just who you fight alongside; they're the people who help you figure out who you are.
The rules back this up. The team shares a pool of Team that grows when you fight together and shrinks when someone goes it alone. Teammates hold Influence over each other, which lets them shape how you see yourself. And several basic moves - Comfort or Support, Pierce the Mask, Defend, Provoke - work differently when the target is another player character. This page covers those rules first, then the softer side of playing a team.
The School Club Analogy
Think about the most meaningful group you belonged to as a teenager - maybe a sports team, drama club, or band. The activity brought you together, but what mattered were the relationships: inside jokes, shared struggles, moments of support, and inevitable conflicts. That's what a Masks team is like, except instead of rehearsing for the school play, you're saving the world.
How Teams Form in Masks
Unlike traditional RPGs where parties form for convenience, Masks teams come together through emotional necessity. At the first session each player answers their playbook's "When our team first came together…" question, so the team's origin story is built by everyone. From there, each member settles into a place in the group's emotional ecosystem, not just a tactical niche.
The Team Pool
Team is a shared pool of points that belongs to the whole group, not to any one character. It is the mechanical measure of how well you're working together right now.
Adding Team
- Start of session: the GM adds a Team to the pool.
- Comfort or Support: on a 10+, you can add a Team to the pool (instead of clearing one of your own conditions).
- Entering battle as a team: when you enter battle against a dangerous foe as a team, see the checklist below.
- Some playbook moves use Team in their own way - the Beacon's Won't let you down, for instance, spends 2 Team for +2.
Spending Team
- Aid a teammate: spend Team one-for-one; each Team you spend gives a teammate +1 to their roll.
- Act selfishly: remove one Team from the pool to shift one of your Labels up and one down. You can do this after you roll, so the shift changes the Label you rolled with.
- When time passes: the GM empties the pool and resets it to 1 Team.
Entering Battle as a Team
When you enter battle against a dangerous foe as a team, add 2 Team to the pool, then adjust:
- +1 Team if the team's leader has Influence over every teammate.
- +1 Team if everyone shares the same purpose.
- −1 Team if anyone mistrusts the leader or the team.
- −1 Team if the team is ill-prepared or off-balance.
The leader can mark a condition to avoid a removal - taking the stress personally so the team doesn't lose that point.
Example: The team charges into a gang war in the old shipyards. They add 2 Team. Their leader holds Influence over everyone (+1), and they all want to stop the fighting before civilians get hurt (+1). But the Delinquent still doesn't trust the leader after last week (−1). The leader's player decides that's worth it: they mark Insecure to avoid the removal. The pool goes up by 4 for this fight.
Because Team is shared, it creates the right kind of tension. Aiding a teammate drains a resource everyone could use; acting selfishly gets you the Label shift you want at the cost of the group. Neither is wrong - it's a choice your character makes in front of their friends.
Emotional Roles Within Teams
Beyond their playbooks, each team member tends to fill certain emotional roles. These aren't rules and they aren't assigned - they emerge naturally from personality interactions and team needs.
The Heart
Function: Keeps the team emotionally connected and motivated
Common Playbooks: Beacon, Legacy (sometimes), Protégé
What They Do: Remind everyone why they fight, mediate conflicts, celebrate victories
Their Struggle: Taking on everyone else's emotional burdens
Example: The teammate who always checks on everyone after a tough mission
The Brain
Function: Provides strategy, analysis, and plans
Common Playbooks: Protégé, high-Superior characters (and the Brain playbook from Secrets of A.E.G.I.S., if your table uses it)
What They Do: Figure out villain plots, coordinate team tactics, research solutions
Their Struggle: Being seen as cold or calculating when they're trying to help
Example: The teammate who has contingency plans for everything
The Shield
Function: Protects the team from physical and emotional harm
Common Playbooks: Bull, Legacy, high-Savior characters
What They Do: Take hits for teammates, stand up to bullies, provide stability
Their Struggle: Neglecting their own needs while protecting others
Example: The teammate who always volunteers for the dangerous jobs
The Catalyst
Function: Pushes the team to grow and change
Common Playbooks: Delinquent, Nova, Doomed
What They Do: Challenge assumptions, force difficult conversations, take risks
Their Struggle: Being seen as a troublemaker when they're trying to help
Example: The teammate who asks uncomfortable questions about team decisions
The Bridge
Function: Connects the team to the outside world
Common Playbooks: Janus, high-Mundane characters
What They Do: Maintain normal relationships, handle publicity, ground the team
Their Struggle: Balancing team needs with outside obligations
Example: The teammate who makes sure everyone keeps up with school
The Mirror
Function: Reflects the team's true nature back to them
Common Playbooks: Outsider, Transformed, high-Freak characters
What They Do: Offer unique perspectives, see what others miss, ask "why?"
Their Struggle: Feeling disconnected even while helping others connect
Example: The teammate who points out when the team is losing its way
Moves Between Teammates
Masks has no special "team move" list that everyone shares. Instead, every playbook has its own two team moves, and several basic moves have separate results when you use them on another player character.
Playbook Team Moves
Each playbook's sheet has two team moves with the same two triggers. What they do is different for every playbook, so read your own sheet.
Triumphant Celebration
Trigger: "When you share a triumphant celebration with someone…"
Effect: Set by your playbook.
Example: After stopping a major threat, the team crams into a booth at their favorite diner. The Beacon's player says their character is celebrating with the Bull, and reads out what the Beacon's celebration move does.
Sharing a Vulnerability
Trigger: "When you share a vulnerability or weakness with someone…"
Effect: Set by your playbook.
Example: Late at night on the roof of the base, the Doomed admits to the Janus that they're scared of how little time they might have left. The Doomed's player checks their sheet to see what sharing that weakness does.
Both triggers need a real scene between two characters. They reward exactly what the game wants: celebrating together and letting each other in.
Basic Moves Aimed at a Teammate
Comfort or Support (Mundane)
When: You comfort or support someone - including a teammate
On a hit: If they open up to you, they mark potential, clear a condition, or shift their Labels.
On a 10+: You can also add a Team to the pool or clear one of your own conditions.
Watch out: Angry gives −2 to this move.
Example: After a teammate fails spectacularly and marks Insecure, you sit with them and remind them of their past successes. They open up, and their player chooses to clear Insecure.
Pierce the Mask (Mundane)
When: You try to see past someone's front to who they really are
On a 10+: Ask three questions. 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?
Watch out: Angry gives −2 to this move too.
Example: Your normally confident teammate has been acting strangely before a mission. You ask "What are you really planning?" and learn they mean to go after the villain alone, because this fight reminds them of a past failure.
Defend (Savior) Against a Teammate
When: You defend someone from an immediate threat - and the threat is another player character
Effect: Defend has separate results for a PC threat. On a hit, the teammate you're standing against takes −2 on their roll.
Watch out: Insecure gives −2 to Defend.
Example: The Delinquent lunges at a cornered henchman who has already surrendered. The Legacy steps in between them and rolls Defend.
Provoke (Superior) a Teammate
When: You try to goad someone into doing what you want - including another player character
Effect: Provoke has a separate set of results for PCs, printed on the reference sheet. You can push a teammate hard, but you never take control of their character - their player still decides what they do.
Watch out: Guilty gives −2 to Provoke.
Influence Between Teammates
Someone with Influence over you is someone whose opinion you care about. It's binary: a character either holds Influence over you or doesn't. There's no score and no limit on how many people can hold it. Every adult holds Influence over you when they're first introduced - see Adults & Authority - but between teammates it has to be given or earned.
Starting Influence
Each playbook tells you how much Influence over you to hand out to your teammates when you build the team, for example:
- Legacy: give Influence to all of your teammates
- Beacon: three teammates
- Doomed: two teammates
- Transformed: one teammate
- Nova: three or one, depending on the demeanor you choose
After that, you can give Influence over you at any time to anyone who doesn't already have it.
Using Influence
While you hold Influence over someone, you take +1 to all moves targeting them.
You can also take advantage of it by giving it up. Surrender your Influence to:
- give them −2 on a move they just made (after the roll)
- inflict a condition on them
- take an extra +1 on a move against them (after the roll)
Gaining Influence You Already Have
If you would gain Influence over someone you already hold it over:
- A teammate: you immediately shift one of their Labels up and one down.
- An NPC: you take +1 forward against them.
"That's Not Who You Are" - Accepting or Rejecting Influence
When someone with Influence over you tells you who you are or how the world works, you choose:
- Accept it: the GM adjusts your Labels to match what they said.
- Reject it: make the Reject Influence move. On a hit, you hold true to yourself; on a 10+ choose two, on a 7–9 choose one: clear a condition or mark potential by acting to prove them wrong; shift one Label up and one down; or cancel their Influence over you and take +1 forward against them. On a miss, you mark a condition and the GM adjusts your Labels.
Insecure gives −2 to rejecting Influence. Either way, the words land - that's why hurtful words from a close friend hit so hard.
A Starting Influence Web
Here's how a four-person team might look right after the first session, using the starting Influence each playbook hands out. An arrow from A to B means A holds Influence over B.
In words: the Legacy gave Influence to all three teammates and the Beacon gave it to all three, so the Legacy and Beacon hold Influence over each other and over the Doomed. The Doomed gave Influence to two (the Legacy and the Beacon), and the Transformed gave it to just one (the Beacon). So the Transformed holds Influence over the Legacy without the Legacy holding it back, and the Doomed and the Transformed hold no Influence over each other at all - a gap worth exploring in play.
End of Session: Closer or Apart
At the end of every session, each player chooses one of these, which makes the state of the team a regular question at the table:
Grow Closer to the Team
Give Influence over you to a teammate, and clear a condition or mark potential.
Grow Into Your Own Image
Shift one Label up and one Label down, the way you see yourself.
Grow Away From the Team
Take Influence over you away from another character.
Over a campaign these choices draw the arc of your character's place in the team. Advancement can reinforce it too: one of the standard advances lets someone permanently lose Influence over you.
Types of Team Relationships
A few relationship patterns come up again and again between teenage teammates. These are table patterns, not rules:
Mentor/Mentee
Dynamic: One character helps another grow and learn
Common Combinations: Legacy → Beacon, Protégé → Nova
Growth Arc: The mentee eventually equals or surpasses the mentor
Potential Conflicts: When to let go, different approaches, recognition
Example: An experienced Legacy teaching a new Beacon combat techniques
Rivals
Dynamic: Two characters push each other to be better through competition
Common Combinations: Legacy → Legacy, Protégé → Delinquent, a Bull and their Rival
Growth Arc: Competition becomes mutual respect and friendship
Potential Conflicts: Jealousy, different values, leadership disputes
Example: Two Legacy characters from competing hero families
Protector/Protected
Dynamic: One character feels responsible for another's safety
Common Combinations: Bull → Beacon, Legacy → Outsider
Growth Arc: The protected character proves their independence
Potential Conflicts: Overprotection, resentment, role reversal
Example: A Bull constantly shielding a Beacon from danger
Confidants
Dynamic: Two characters share secrets and emotional support
Common Combinations: Janus → anyone, Doomed → Protégé
Growth Arc: Trust deepens through shared vulnerability
Potential Conflicts: Betrayed secrets, different coping methods
Example: A Janus revealing their secret identity to a trusted teammate
Opposite Numbers
Dynamic: Characters with contrasting approaches who balance each other
Common Combinations: Delinquent → Legacy, Nova → Protégé
Growth Arc: Learning to appreciate different perspectives
Potential Conflicts: Fundamental disagreements, misunderstanding motivations
Example: A careful Protégé and an impulsive Nova learning to work together
Kindred Spirits
Dynamic: Characters who understand each other intuitively
Common Combinations: Outsider → Transformed, Doomed → Delinquent
Growth Arc: Finding belonging through shared understanding
Potential Conflicts: Enabling bad habits, isolation from others
Example: Two characters who both feel like outsiders finding connection
Whatever the pattern, Influence is how it shows up on the sheet: who gives it to whom, who takes it away, and who refuses to hand it over.
How Teams Evolve
Teams in Masks don't stay static - they grow and change as individual members develop. The team's identity shifts based on shared experiences and changing dynamics. New challenges then start the cycle again, often with a team that looks quite different from the one that first came together.
Common Team Challenges
Every team faces predictable challenges as they grow together. Understanding these helps create engaging storylines:
Early Team
- Learning to Work Together: Different fighting styles and approaches clash
- Establishing Hierarchy: Who leads? Who follows? Who decides?
- Trust Building: Sharing real names, secrets, and vulnerabilities
- External Validation: Proving themselves to adults and the public
Example Scenario: The team's first major victory is overshadowed by property damage, leading to public criticism and adult supervision.
Established Team
- Growing Apart: Individual character growth creates new tensions
- Leadership Challenges: Current leader faces criticism or self-doubt
- Romantic Complications: Relationships within the team create drama
- Moral Disagreements: Different values lead to major conflicts
Example Scenario: Half the team wants to give a reformed villain a chance while the other half doesn't trust them.
Mature Team
- Legacy Questions: What kind of heroes do they want to be long-term?
- Growing Up: Aging out of "teen hero" status - retiring from the life or becoming a paragon of the city are both advances on the bottom list
- Mentoring Others: Becoming the adult figures for newer heroes
- Systemic Challenges: Taking on larger issues than individual villains
Example Scenario: The team discovers their city's corruption goes all the way to the top, forcing them to question working within the system.
Try It at the Table
Map Your Influence
For your team (or a hypothetical team), draw a map like the one above:
- List each character and their playbook
- Draw an arrow from each character to every teammate they hold Influence over
- Note which pairs are mutual, which are one-way, and which have no Influence at all
- Pick the most interesting gap or imbalance - that's where your next scenes should go
- Plan 2-3 scenes that would push those relationships toward Comfort or Support, Pierce the Mask, or a team move
Tip: redraw the map after a few sessions. The changes tell you how the team has really grown.
Design a Team Challenge
Create a challenge that tests team bonds rather than just combat abilities:
- Setup: A situation that divides the team's loyalties or values
- Stakes: What happens if they can't work together? (Mechanically: someone mistrusts the leader, so the Team pool takes a hit.)
- Resolution: How can they solve it only by leveraging their relationships?
Example Template: "The team discovers that [trusted ally] has been [morally ambiguous action] because [sympathetic reason]. Half the team wants to [supportive response] while half wants to [harsh response]. They must [work together] or [bad consequence] will happen."
Spot the Emotional Roles
Look at your team and identify who naturally fills each emotional role:
- Who is the Heart? (emotional center)
- Who is the Brain? (strategic thinker)
- Who is the Shield? (protector)
- Who is the Catalyst? (change agent)
- Who is the Bridge? (outside connector)
- Who is the Mirror? (perspective giver)
Consider: What happens when someone's role changes? What if multiple people want the same role? What if a crucial role is empty?
GM Techniques for Team Building
Creating Team Moments
Shared Adversity
Put the team in situations where they must rely on each other to succeed
Example: Trapped together with no powers, forced to solve problems through teamwork
Individual Spotlight
Give each character moments to shine while others support them
Example: A mission that specifically requires one character's unique abilities
Moral Dilemmas
Present choices that reveal character values and create discussion
Example: A villain offers information in exchange for letting them escape
Downtime Scenes
Create scenes between missions that develop relationships - and give players room to trigger their team moves
Example: Team movie night, study sessions, or casual hangouts
Handling Team Conflicts
- Make them personal: Conflicts should stem from character values, not just tactics
- Avoid taking sides: Present each perspective as valid and understandable
- Force resolution: External pressure that requires them to work together (the GM move "Bring them together" exists for exactly this)
- Show consequences: Let them see how their conflict affects their effectiveness - a team that mistrusts its leader starts every fight with less Team
- Reward growth: Celebrate when characters overcome their differences
Building Team Identity
Successful Masks teams develop their own unique culture, traditions, and identity that sets them apart from other hero groups:
Team Name and Image
What do they call themselves? How do they present to the world? What's their "brand"?
Questions: Professional or casual? Serious or fun? Traditional or rebellious?
Operating Philosophy
What principles guide their heroism? How do they decide what's right?
Questions: Do they work with authorities? Trust reform? Use violence?
Internal Culture
What are their traditions, jokes, and ways of bonding?
Questions: How do they celebrate? Handle failure? Support each other?
External Relationships
How do they relate to adults, other teams, and the public?
Questions: Independent or supervised? Popular or controversial? Secretive or public?
Teams You Already Know
The team dynamics in Masks mirror those found in any close-knit group of teenagers:
Sports Teams
Masks Parallel: Working together toward common goals while managing individual ambitions and interpersonal drama
Friend Groups
Masks Parallel: Supporting each other through personal struggles while navigating changing dynamics
Activity Clubs
Masks Parallel: Bonding over shared interests while dealing with leadership and commitment issues
Study Groups
Masks Parallel: Learning from each other's strengths while managing competitive tensions
Related Topics to Explore
Group Psychology
How groups form, develop norms, and handle conflict
Teenage Social Development
How adolescents form identity through peer relationships
Ensemble Storytelling
Techniques for managing multiple protagonists in narrative
Conflict Resolution
Methods for addressing and resolving interpersonal conflicts