---
layout:          post
title:           "CHAP Masks 0 - Character Building"
date:            2022-04-27 11:00:00 -0400
episode_type:      episode
tags:            []
voiced:          []
categories:			"cmv"
podcasts: ["cmv"]
title_prefix:	"CHAP"
next_categories: ["cmv"]
next_prefixes: ["CHAP"]
next_episode:	['masks-001']
next_episode_num:		['001']
next_episode_title:		["Meet Our Heroes"]
next_cmv_campaign: ['Masks']
episode_title:   'Character Building'
episode_number:  '000'
cmv_campaign: 'Masks'
summary:         "Prepare for our brand new campaign of Masks: A New Generation with GM Maddy Searle and players Ahmed Aljabry, Lowri Ann Davies, Lydia Nicholas and Pip Gladwin!<br/><br/>This week, our players introduce their characters, figure out whether they've crossed paths before our story begins, and Maddy gives a brief summary of the game's mechanics."
content_flags:   ["Mentions of: food & exercise"]
acast_url:       https://play.acast.com/s/chapter-and-multiverse/chap-masks-0-character-building
formats:
official:        true
---

##### [SHOW THEME - INTRO]

#### THE ETERNAL TAVERN KEEPER

Rusty Quill Presents: Chapter and Multiverse.

##### [THE MUSIC BUILDS, SOARS, THEN FADES OUT]

#### MADDY

Hello and welcome to *Chapter and Multiverse,* the actual play podcast where we explore the same city across multiple parallel universes. I am your game master, Maddy Searle, pronouns she/her, and today we will be meeting the characters in our first ever campaign of Masks: A New Generation.

And before we go any further, I would like to introduce our fabulous players who are going to be taking us through this campaign, starting off with Pip Gladwin.

#### PIP

Hi, I'm Pip Gladwin, pronouns he/him, and I am super excited to be here.

#### MADDY

Yeah! And Lowri...

#### LOWRI

Hello, I'm Lowri Ann Davies, she/her, and I am also super excited to be here! You might be able to tell from the little tremble in my voice -- very excited!

##### [SNICKERS]

#### MADDY

And Ahmed...

#### AHMED

Hi, I'm Ahmed Aljabry and I am super -- _(searches for a different word)_ -- *stoked* to be here.

##### [GROUP LAUGHTER]

#### MADDY

And Lyd.

#### LYDIA

Hi, I'm Lydia Nicholas -- pronouns she/they -- and I'm just chill, folks. Yeah... Yeah, that's cool, that's cool... take it or leave it. Yeah. I'm totally cool with this. I'm not *so pumped.* What? No. Chill. Yeah.

##### [GROUP LAUGHTER]

#### LOWRI

Totes chill?

#### LYDIA

Totes chill.

#### MADDY

So yeah, we are going to be introducing our characters, both to each other and to the audience. I am the keeper of the secrets -- I know what all your characters are. But you don't necessarily know what each other's characters are. Does anyone want to go first?

#### LOWRI

Happily! Happily I will go first.

#### MADDY

Amazing. Alright, Lowri. So in *Mask,* you can have many different names, including human names, alien names, hero names... like, whatever. So what name or names does your character have?

#### LOWRI

So my character, her given name, then, is Blodeuwedd Morgan...

#### LYDIA

Ooh!

#### LOWRI

But don't worry, everybody, she likes to be called Morgan. _(laughing)_ You don't have to pronounce the Welsh name. And she doesn't have her superhero name yet.

#### LYDIA

*Ooh.*

#### LOWRI

Is that something I can say -- I don't know what I can say, actually. I enthusiastically volunteered myself, and immediately I'm like -- how much can I say?!

##### [LAUGHTER]

Maddy, guide me!

#### MADDY

It's entirely up to you. It's like, if you want things to be a surprise, keep them under wraps. It's entirely up to you.

#### LOWRI

Okay. So she lives with her uncle, Owain. He raised her. And she has some superpowers, which I will tell you about. She has super strength and speed...

#### LYDIA

Ooh!

#### LOWRI

...and vitality absorption.

##### [LYDIA GASPS]

So if you think of her base level is like Captain America -- super strength and speed. So she's...

#### LYDIA

Hunky!

#### LOWRI

...amped up, basically, from a normal human. But the vitality absorption comes in where she can absorb energy from living things. So that could be plants, that could be people, and that amps her up even further. So in theory she has the ability to go up to, like -- I don't know, superman levels. But we've never done that, because... it does take its toll on the living thing, that she absorbs from.

#### LYDIA

_(soft)_ Oh no!

#### LOWRI

So I think she's a bit afraid to test that.

#### MADDY

And presumably an emotional toll on herself?

#### LOWRI

Well, yes.

##### [SNICKERS]

#### MADDY

Which is what this game's *all* about.

#### LOWRI

But what she does... I don't know, do I want to keep that a secret? Okay, no, I'm going to keep that a secret.

##### [GROUP LAUGHTER, SOME 'AWWS']

#### LOWRI

A "redacted."

#### MADDY

Alright, what does Morgan look like?

#### LOWRI

Her most striking feature is that she has very, very bright green eyes. Like almost -- not glowing, but almost. Very very bright and eye-catching, then. She has long tawny hair. So -- I mean, I am kind of describing myself here, which is... _(laughing)_

#### PIP

Especially the energy absorption.

#### LOWRI

Yes.

##### [LAUGHTER]

I'm actually giving out more energy right now, I think, than absorbing. I haven't given much thought beyond that. Like, she's Caucasian...

#### LYDIA

Just some hovering eyes!

#### LOWRI

Yeah. Hovering eyes...

##### [SNICKERS]

_(laughing)_ All around her. Yes.

I like the idea that she has some Celtic tattoos? Kind of love spoon style design. So -- I don't know if you're familiar with love spoons. It's a Welsh cultural thing. And so there's lots of hearts and maybe daffodils, and like... you know the Celtic -- they used to be really popular years and years ago, like... oh my gosh, what are they called? Like...

#### MADDY

Celtic knots?

#### LOWRI

Bands. Or Celtic knots... yeah, and things like that. Just like on her arms and her limbs and...

#### LYDIA

How many limbs?

#### LOWRI

Yeah, I know --

#### LYDIA

"Arms *and* limbs"!

#### LOWRI

-- I made that sound like she had more than four!

#### LYDIA

So many limbs!

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### LOWRI

*All* of the limbs, did I not mention that.

#### PIP

If you've got more than the normal amount of limbs, then you've really buried the lede here.

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### LYDIA

Yeah. "Just a couple of tattoos... on her *twelve limbs!"*

#### LOWRI

I can categorically state that she has two arms and two legs. Because I feel like I have now made a _(inaudible)_

#### MADDY

And how old is Morgan?

#### LOWRI

Oh! Thank you. Morgan is 21.

#### MADDY

Sweet.

#### LOWRI

So yeah.

#### MADDY

So, Lowri, your character has a thing called doomsigns. Can you explain that a little bit more?

#### LOWRI

Oh, my character is... I'm playing the Doomed, which is a type of character in the game *Masks.*

##### [LYDIA CACKLES]

#### LYDIA

Has that been established? Yeah?

#### LOWRI

I mean -- as opposed to me just being like, "I have decided I'm doomed."

##### [GROUP LAUGHTER]

So, it's basically things that I can do, but if I do them, I have to mark them off on my sheet, and it takes me closer to my doooooom.

#### LYDIA

*Ooooh.*

#### LOWRI

So I have five abilities available to me. One is Dark Visions -- and I have to have chosen one that I can take at the start, I believe, if I recall correctly. And I've decided to take Dark Visions because my uncle, Owain -- he is also a superhero, or he has super-abilities. And his ability is that he has visions of the future, and he can predict things that may happen... somewhat murkily. So I have inherited that from him as well. I have the Dark Visions, which basically means I can ask the GM a question and Maddy has to answer it honestly.

#### LYDIA

"What did you have for breakfast?"

#### LOWRI

_(laughing)_ Yes. Really helpful things.

#### PIP

"Tell me your deepest, most shameful secret, Maddy!"

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### LOWRI

Oh no, I will not abuse that power in that awful way. _(snickering)_ Another one is Infinite Powers, so basically I can use any ability from anybody's playbook. Portal -- I can appear in a scene with anyone I want. Burning Bright...

Oh, something we haven't touched on is Sanctuary. So there's a thing called the sanctuary, and the GM -- if you want to go to your sanctuary, the GM says, "oh, you have to satisfy this thing to be able to go there." I can go to my sanctuary and call upon the resources in my sanctuary without having to fulfil the GM's demand, basically. And Bolstered -- I get to use an "adult move." Which I will confess, I do not know what an adult move is!

#### MADDY

It's just basically the more emotionally mature versions of the basic moves --

#### LOWRI

Ohhhh.

#### MADDY

So as your character grows up and becomes more mature --

#### LOWRI

Oh, nice.

#### MADDY

-- you can do more powerful versions of the moves you already have, the basic moves that all characters have access to.

#### LOWRI

That's a lovely thing. Yes.

#### MADDY

Amazing. Alright, any other little tidbits about your character before we finish up?

#### LOWRI

I guess it's worth saying that my sanctuary is my home, that I grew up in with my uncle. It's quite remote -- purposefully so, which hopefully will come up at some point. And it has a big library. Because basically my uncle has collected a huge library of books, so that he can help research and understand his visions, and I have access to that. There's also... _(cryptic)_ my things there, and it's somewhere that I go to recharge.

#### MADDY

Lovely. Alright. So we have now met Morgan. Who wants to come forward next, with their character?

#### LYDIA

Happy to give it a shot!

#### MADDY

Amazing. Yeah, alright, Lyd. Who're you playing?

#### LYDIA

I am Mini Smithson, who is a Perfectly Ordinary Human Individual!

##### [LOWRI SNICKERS]

#### LOWRI

Aha, I see.

#### LYDIA

Yep. That is... who I am, and that's what I'm doing! _(strained singsong)_ Just an ordinary human! Oooordinary huuuuman.

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### LYDIA

A human... but ordinary. Mini Smithson.

#### LOWRI

Smithson is *great.*

#### MADDY

Does Mini have a hero name or any other names that we should know about?

#### LYDIA

Whaaaat! Not that you should know about, no! I'm just an Ordinary Human. Just... yeah, that's me, ordinary aaaand human.

#### LOWRI

Sounds like there's nothing more to investigate here!

#### LYDIA

No!

#### MADDY

Reached a dead end in our inquiries here!

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### LYDIA

Mini is a small, white... human! They appear pretty female-shaped -- female *human* shaped, I should say -- and pretty femme in attitude. Their hair is long and looks kind of iridescent black.

##### [SOMEONE SAYS 'OOH' IN THE BACKGROUND]

From certain angles, it shimmers with blue-purple iridescence, but that's normal, right? _(very pained-sounding awkward laugh)_ It may have some streaks of neon colour in as well. It kind of looks like an extremely sophisticated dye job, which is *totally* what it is, because I'm an ordinary human.

And my eyes are a very dark blue, that borders on purple, which is so human. _(strained)_ I don't think you could get more human than that. Sometimes they glow a bit, when when I get emotional, but I mean... humans do strange things, right?

#### LOWRI

I'm sure it's just the light, right?

#### LYDIA

I'm sure it's just bein' a human! Yeah. And I live in a flat with some other ordinary humans, including Benson McDichael, who is *totally human?* And Clio Schmerk, *also human.* We totally get on. Even though we broke up a while ago, and... you know, their new partner is *fine!* And I totally am okay with overhearing their smoochy Zoom calls...

#### LOWRI

Oh, no...

#### LYDIA

Like, that's cool... you know. I'm a human! And I work at a shoe shop and while I'm trying to get my journalism career off the tracks... off the human things... yeah. Veeeery human.

#### MADDY

What age is Mini?

#### LYDIA

Like in human years?

#### MADDY

Um, yeah --

#### LYDIA

Which are the only years that I'm concerned with, obviously -- like... 22?

#### MADDY

Yeah. Is there any backstory, or, er...

#### LYDIA

What?! I'm a human. Why would I have anything to reveal? Humans don't have secrets!

#### PIP

Be happy to know, Lydia, that my notes for you have the name and the age that you gave, and then just the word "human."

#### LYDIA

Human. Yeah. Just underline that 'cause I am *veeeery human!*

##### [LAUGHTER]

That's what I am!

#### PIP

Double underlined.

#### LYDIA

Bein' a human!

#### MADDY

So, Pip, do you want to go next?

#### PIP

I will go next, yes. I will be playing a young man, by the name of Joseph Teller. That's his name. He's about 21.

#### LYDIA

Cool. That's all we need to know, I'm sure.

##### [SNICKERS]

#### MADDY

Does Joseph have a hero name, currently?

#### PIP

He's not been on the scene for very long, in terms of being out in the world, being a public superhero. And even the time that he has spent out, whenever there's been camera crews or witnesses or anything like that, he's not stuck around and done the whole sort of "hey, I'm the newest superhero on the block!" There's generally shots of him disappearing up a building or slipping away -- generally there's lots of blurry shots of "who is this person, this mystery man." But the name *Zenith* hasn't come up in relation to him.

#### MADDY

Sick. Alright, and what kind of powers/abilities does Zenith/Joseph have?

#### PIP

A grand total of no superpowers whatsoever.

#### LYDIA

Hm!

#### PIP

He is very, very stealthy, he seems extremely well-trained. He uses gadgets here and there -- the smoke bombs, grappling hooks, that kind of thing. But he hasn't publicly displayed anything that would present itself as being a superpower, something that a human couldn't do.

#### LYDIA

Could you just clarify what those things are that humans *can't* do.

##### [GROUP LAUGHTER]

#### MADDY

Just for the records.

#### LYDIA

You know, we all like to clear that kind of thing up!

#### PIP

It is useful to know.

#### MADDY

And are there any important people in his life that you would be willing to share now? Or would you prefer to leave that for later?

#### PIP

I think for the audience... I'd be happy to share it with the players. Just in a kind of, "you guys as players know, but your characters probably don't know this." But yeah, let's --

Actually, let's leave it. Let's leave it. It's going to become pretty abundantly obvious what I've done. Probably already is, to some people...

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### LOWRI

Ohhh... that sounds exciting!

#### MADDY

Yeah. Like first scene, it's all going to be laid out.

#### LYDIA

What? None of us have anything to reveal very soon after things start... ha ha ha...

#### LOWRI

Chortle chortle.

#### PIP

My moves... if you want to know my moves?

#### MADDY

Yes. Go for it.

#### PIP

My moves are "Been Reading the Files," which basically it's given me access to a database about superhumans -- like a research database, so I can find out things. Another one of these ones that allows me to ask a question of the GM about something that's going on, or that kind of thing. I have "Be Mindful of Your Surroundings," which allows me, if I assess a situation before entering a fight, I can ask *more* questions of Maddy -- I'm basically just stacking up all of this... you know, give me all the info before we go in.

##### [SOFT SNICKERS]

Very much like to be prepared. He's a boy scout! -- He's not. He's not a boy scout. I mean, he might have been at some point, but anyway.

And then we pulled one from another playbook, which is for... it's from the Beacon playbook, which I don't think any of us are playing. But the Beacon has one called "No Powers and Not Nearly Enough Training," so the archetype of the fresh young superhero, doesn't know what they're doing. And that's not who Joseph is. So we've reskinned that as "No Powers and All the Training," and it allows me to have a little resource that's always going on and I'm acquiring little pieces of gear all the time... I can only really have one at a time. I can get a few uses out of them and then clear it, in order to get a new one. So lots of adaptability, yeah.

So out of costume, to look at him, he is pretty forgettable. This is a young man who, in his short time on this earth, has *cultivated* forgettability. He is slim, white. Kind of relatively ambiguous-looking, but definitely closer to a male, and when out and about it's just loose clothes, nothing ostentatious to him at all. He's tried to make himself look as dull as possible when not in costume.

And when *in* costume, I don't think there's good enough pictures of it, honestly, to be found by anyone online. But definitely leading towards something full-bodied with a face mask or helmet, and in either black or very dark green -- hard to tell, because the pictures aren't good enough. Yeah! And I guess that's all I've got.

#### MADDY

Amazing. Alright. And before we finish up with you, Pip, what playbook are you doing?

#### PIP

Oh, yes, the Protégé playbook. Is my favourite.

#### LYDIA

Playbook? Who has a playbook? We're all just humans!

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### PIP

"Should have gone with the Human playbook like me."

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### LYDIA

Walk around, be ordinary. That's what it says.

#### MADDY

And yes, Ahmed, last but not least. What is your character's name, and what playbook are you using?

#### AHMED

Alright. So, my character -- his real name is Adeeb, and I am not going to add too much details because he's a Janus. So his identity -- his *real* identity is a big deal to him.

He has the power of fabric manipulation, so he can mind-control anything that is made of fabric. His suit is just a black suit with white ribbons around his arms, and he wears two shawls. One as a turban over his head -- a blue one, which is his iconic signature -- and a red one around his shoulder, which he controls to use like a net, or he uses the ribbons to either tie people, or maybe wrap them as a glove around his fist.

He is 20–21. His moves are "The Mask," which allows him to, once per session, to switch his Saviour and Mundane abilities -- or, sorry, labels. And "Mild-Mannered," so whenever I use my civilian identity to deceive, trick, or slip past someone, I can roll and try to use that as a civilian. And finally "I'll Save You," which -- this has a high cost for defending someone.

I am very cheerful and I am always just smiling. And this is like... I look like someone who doesn't take anything seriously.

#### MADDY

And do you have important people in your life that you want to talk about now, or would you rather wait until later in the game?

#### AHMED

I will wait until later -- until when we decide who knows what about what, from the group.

#### MADDY

Fair, fair. Alright.

#### LYDIA

I know about human things. I think we've established that.

#### AHMED

Yeah.

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### MADDY

Alright. I think now that we've met all the characters, it's time to take a short break, and when we come back, we'll be determining whether any of our characters have met each other before the events of the game. So we'll be back in just two minutes.

#### LOWRI

I'm very excited.

##### [SNICKERS]

---

#### MADDY

Welcome back. Alright, we now have met our characters, Joseph, Morgan, Mini, and Adeeb, and so: I would like to ask whether any of you think you may have met before. I feel like you're all from very different worlds, so it is very understandable if you haven't, but maybe you just bumped into each other in a coffee shop one time. So Ahmed -- do you think that Adeeb will have met any of these other characters before?

#### AHMED

I would expect, if any of them is studying engineering, 'cause I was probably studying something in engineering. Or somewhere in campus. That is most likely because if I go into action and get into my uniform, someone from within my circle would notice, "Hm, this guy disappears every time the other guy shows up!"

#### PIP

Real superman problems, yeah.

#### LYDIA

I work in a shoe shop, because -- you know, ordinary human -- so just not been around campus, I'm afraid. Have you bought any shoes recently?

#### AHMED

OK, yeah. I would probably meet your character, because I buy... *abnormally* a lot of shoes for cosplay.

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### LYDIA

Cool! Awesome! Then, yeah, and also we might have bonded over style. Because Mini dresses, like... there's just quirks to her style? Like general-- I've written down a standard thing: a big grey oversized sweater, worn as a dress, with a belt. And then, you know the fish-shaped soy sauce packets? I have them strung on a necklace. And it's just a cool quirk to her, which is Totally Deliberate, and she's probably kind of taken -- just commented on your cool style and the way that "you seem to always make fabric work for you. Like, I can never make things *fit* like that. How are you *doing* it? That is so cool."

##### [GROUP SNICKERING]

#### AHMED

Yeah, I would probably... she would probably find out after a few times and seeing my -- the things that I buy -- _(laughing)_ become part of my outfit.

#### LYDIA

Yeah. That would actually be... that would be pretty cool. So Mini might not have told you yet, but -- Mini has like a bit... like, she's picking up on when people are moving matter around, in ways that might not be altogether... human? She's totally human, but like. So the fact that your clothes always fit *perfectly,* and the style is always on-point, 'cause -- you know, why would you be able to manipulate fabric and get through some many clothes if you're not also rocking them.

So Mini's got an idea that something's going on! Something's going on there!

#### PIP

This could also be a sort of... if you're buying a lot of shoes. Ahmed, do you think your character has been like... I'm assuming he's quite a public superhero? He's "out there"?

#### AHMED

Okay. So he is not... he's been doing it a few times. He is not like, a famous/popular one. He's just -- you know -- he's there.

And even his name -- his superhero name, The Turban... he didn't choose that. It just -- you know, because he's wearing a blue turban. _(laughing)_ And that's what the press pointed out.

#### PIP

Is there a moment where, um, Mini is watching some news report on something that Adeeb is... what he's doing in superhero garb, and there's like -- "I sold those shoes!"

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### LYDIA

Yeah, yeah, yeah! Yeah! Absolutely, like... on the screen, Mini's like... "I'm... there's something *about* that dude!"

#### AHMED

Yeah, I bought the same shoe like three times, because I cannot manipulate leather.

#### LYDIA

Ahh, interesting!

##### [EVERYONE AHHS]

#### LYDIA

And I'm guessing one of the... Mini will be slightly annoyed because she thought she was making a Totally Ordinary Human Friend.

#### LOWRI

Aw...

#### LYDIA

"Argh... dang, this one's a superhero. Well... I mean, I'm not a superhero, obviously, but argh. Again! Swing and a miss!"

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### LYDIA

"Gotta learn about ordinary human things." Yep, but no... Yeah, I think they get on, if that's okay with you.

#### AHMED

Yeah.

#### LYDIA

Like, they chat shoes, they chat fashion. They have a joke. She's actually created a "buy five, get one free" stamp, just for you?

#### LOWRI

Aww!

#### LYDIA

Because who needs those for shoes?!

#### AHMED

I already bought three, so...

#### LYDIA

Yeah, yeah, yeah! You're nearly there, you're nearly there.

#### AHMED

The two are coming. I would assume our friendship to the point that I would have taken you shopping once or twice?

#### LYDIA

Yes!

#### AHMED

And whenever... we buy a lot of different things, and whenever I meet you, would probably put them together all wrong?

#### LYDIA

Yeah! Like... you're just like, "ah, yeah, get these tights!" And like I come out and they're a very stylish belt? Like I've plaited it together, and I'm like, "look, it's a cool belt!" And you're like, _(strained)_ "Okay..."

##### [GROUP SNICKERING]

#### AHMED

I would assume that I probably have crossed paths with Zenith once or twice. Like, handling the same thing at the same time by coincidence.

#### PIP

Yeah. I think for any of us, probably... if anyone had crossed paths with him, out of costume... well, he is unlikely to have engaged with you, and you are unlikely to remember it happening. So I think yeah, probably would have been in costume, yeah. Absolutely.

And not intentionally, either -- it would have been one of those "accidental by chance" kind of... we both arrived to bust the same drug ring, or whatever it is, that we're doing today.

#### MADDY

Nice. And Lowri, who do you think Morgan may have crossed paths with?

#### LOWRI

So I've been sitting here thinking... I mean, she's very purposefully been brought up quite isolated. And I was -- I didn't want -- at first I was like maybe I have bought shoes from Lyd, but actually, Pip, you were saying... so Joseph does a lot of research right?

#### PIP

He does. Yeah.

#### LOWRI

I wonder if there's a way that makes sense that maybe Joseph knows my uncle, or has borrowed... because my uncle has a really extensive library.

#### PIP

Yeah.

#### LOWRI

And research resources -- and I wondered if there was something there?

#### PIP

I know I'm just -- I'm immediately going back on something I just said, but that's how we do these things, we have a conversation...

#### LOWRI

Oh, well -- what's it going back on?

#### PIP

You wouldn't have met him out of costume...

#### LOWRI

Well, it can be Zenith! If you want it to be Zenith, that makes perfect sense for me and my uncle. He's not a superhero, but he has superpowers.

##### [BEAT]

#### LYDIA

Ooh, okay. _(suspiciously)_ Hm! Hmmmm.

#### LOWRI

Hang on, now... what are you saying about my uncle, human?! Back off!

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### LYDIA

So I'm not very good at subtext, but I'm pretty sure that was some big --

#### LOWRI

No, no, no -- sorry, I am going to clarify that. What I meant was... he's not act-- I mean, his power is seeing the future, right. He doesn't turn up and save someone. He just has that ability.

#### LYDIA

Right, right.

#### LOWRI

Like he's not in a team, or...

#### LYDIA

He just occasionally stops someone on the train and is just like, "don't get off at the next stop." And he saves them, but they don't know -- it's not jazzy.

#### LOWRI

Do you know what, Lyd, yes he does, and I love it!

#### LYDIA

Oh, okay. That's cool.

#### AHMED

He's like a consultant, for superheroes and stuff.

##### [SNICKERING]

#### LOWRI

But we live quite an isolated life, the two of us.

So -- the only thing that I can't quite square here is how Pip... or, how Zenith would know to go to my uncle.

#### MADDY

I think Pip and I know a character who would be able to have introduced them.

#### LOWRI

Awesome.

#### PIP

I like that. I think -- yeah, it would have been less of a "oh, you've been personally introduced by this other character that we're not talking about," and more like I've gotten in touch with him, and it's very much a "how did you get this number" kind of situation. Just like, "Oh, okay, sure...? Come and have a look in my library, I guess?"

#### LOWRI

Yeah, I've got a few books on that topic.

##### [SNICKERING]

Yeah, and I would have been there. You would have seen me like... I don't know. I would have been polite, but...

#### PIP

Yeah, I also would have been polite, but weird? And not taking the helmet off at any point.

#### LOWRI

That's fine.

#### LYDIA

Just reading a book, with a full helmet...

##### [LOWRI CACKLES]

I just have this vision of of this old library, where everything is propped up and it smells like musty leather. And you're there, dressed like you're out of Daft Punk.

##### [LAUGHTER]

Just people turning to look at you, but it's a *library,* so they don't say anything! You don't say anything in a library.

#### PIP

That's actually a really good pull for the look. It's like if one of the guys from Daft Punk was a ninja, that's basically a... Zenith's look.

#### LOWRI

Awesome.

#### PIP

Yeah. I think he would have come outside of public hours?

#### LOWRI

Yeah. I mean -- to be clear, it's not a public library. It's *really weird* that you... maybe we can establish there are a few people have, through friends of friends/contacts, heard that "oh, maybe Owain" -- who is my uncle -- "has a tome or a book on this topic." He's really dedicated himself to his collection, and something you were interested in, and through this contact that I don't know, put you in touch with my uncle. So maybe you visited a few times?

#### PIP

There is something nice, maybe also potentially, Maddy... also given that he's actually not an active "I wear a costume to go out" superhero, or he *wasn't,* but he's had this ability and I have, I assume, been using it to benefit people in some way, and kind of help however he can. There's a potential for him -- having -- known -- my contact.

#### LYDIA

Could we establish that whenever you do studying montages, there is a thudding bass line playing?

#### LOWRI/PIP

Yes.

#### LOWRI

*Absolutely.*

#### MADDY(?)

Yeah, non-diegetic, but still very much there.

#### PIP

Yep, I like that.

#### LYDIA

_(singing)_ Reading faster, stronger, faster!

#### LOWRI

Actually... I'm sorry, Blodeuwedd -- sorry, Morgan -- I think *loves* Daft Punk, and is playing it, and it *is* diegetic, it's in the scene, it's actually -- she's playing it!

##### [LYDIA CACKLES]

And Zenith is trying to read...

##### [GROUP LAUGHTER]

#### LYDIA

_(singing)_ We're up all night, having fun!

#### MADDY

You're just, there's a little workout station in the library, because it's your house. So...

#### LOWRI

_(gasps)_ That is for my workout too!

#### PIP

Amazing.

#### LOWRI

Right, making a note of that.

##### [SNICKERS]

#### MADDY

Yeah, because in *Buffy* they work out in the library all the time.

#### PIP

We've had a couple of sort of awkward, you know, I've shown up at 2:00am...

#### LOWRI

And I'm working out -- _(laughs)_

#### PIP

Yeah, you're working out, doing a vigorous 2:00am workout. Yeah, and I've come to look at some of the books and... you know, maybe it's... something like your father's been -- like he's...

#### LOWRI

He's my uncle, but --

#### PIP

Uncle, sorry.

#### LOWRI

It's okay.

#### PIP

Yeah. Maybe he's gone to bed, and you're there to, you know, "let him in, and keep an eye on him."

#### LOWRI

Yeah, yeah. "You're going to be up anyway --"

#### PIP

"You're going to be up working out anyway!"

#### LOWRI

Yeah, cool.

#### PIP

2 till 3:00am every day...

#### LOWRI

Maybe I've brought you a glass of water with a straw in it, so you don't have to take your mask off, but you can...

#### LYDIA

_(cackling)_ *Yes!* Have you seen that picture -- I think they even showed it on Graham Norton, where Tom Holland was showing how he drinks coffee while in the Spiderman suit. And there's a hole in -- they pop out the eye, yeah, and there's a long straw.

#### LOWRI

Oh my gosh!

#### LYDIA

You just have to imagine that. Your Daft Punk helmet has a little... you press an invisible touch pad, and there's a *ch-chh* and it opens up and there's a *tiny hole* and the straw comes out...

#### LOWRI

Yes! _(laughing)_ Yes!

#### PIP

Yeah, if Morgan has at any point commented in the past that Zenith's helmet looks like the helmet from Daft Punk, the next time he's come back he's got a different helmet.

#### LOWRI

Oh...

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### PIP

Just re-designed it, and come back with a different one.

#### LOWRI

Oh no...!

##### [MORE LAUGHTER]

#### MADDY

Do you think that there are any other crossovers of people meeting each other, or do you think that that's enough for now? I'm very happy to have more interconnectedness, if you want to have it?

#### LYDIA

It sounds like Morgan and Zenith are pretty isolated?

#### PIP/LOWRI

Yes.

#### LYDIA

If Mini has met Joseph Teller, she definitely hasn't made the connection, and unless -- if Morgan has come in to buy shoes -- it doesn't sound like you come in so often that you...

#### LOWRI

Yeah.

#### LYDIA

...get your own special stamp card, and then go shopping together.

#### LOWRI

No, definitely. I was going to say, I reckon I've come in to buy a pair of boots from you. I was saying in the break that I'd decided that Morgan is very buff --

#### LYDIA

Cool.

#### LOWRI

-- and dresses like Jessica Jones?

#### LYDIA

Yeah, yeah.

#### LOWRI

So has a little vest that will show her tattoos off. Black jeans and black boots, like, biker boots. So presumably they last quite a long time, you know.

#### LYDIA

Yeah, yeah, yeah -- so that's not really the kind of shoe that we sell, as well.

#### LOWRI

Ohhh, right.

#### LYDIA

We're just a very ordinary shoe shop. It's an extremely ordinary job.

#### LOWRI

It is.

#### PIP

I don't think they *would* have met, but I like to imagine that if Mini had met Joseph, in civilian mode that she would have been absolutely fascinated by him, because he is just...

##### [LYDIA CACKLES]

#### PIP

The most mundane "human" human you could imagine.

#### LYDIA

Come tell me about it!

#### AHMED

_(laughing)_ Teach me, master!

#### PIP

Oh, _(trembly)_ he's wearing jeans and a *grey hoodie!*

#### LYDIA

Oh!

#### PIP

Oh my God!

#### LYDIA

Furiously making notes. _(frenzied whisper)_ This is going to be my next article... yes!

#### LOWRI

I think... I reckon -- I don't think Adeeb and Morgan have met. But I think... so your superhero persona is like public, right?

#### AHMED

Yeah.

#### LOWRI

Albeit new. I think she will have... she will know who you are.

#### AHMED

Yeah. I've -- the Turban... on TV...

#### LOWRI

Yes, sorry, of course -- that's what I meant. She knows the Turban. She'll know who the Turban is.

#### LYDIA

Do you wear the same turban out and about? Like it sounded like you do just generally -- or is it a quick-change scenario?

#### AMHED

I'm usually carrying a backpack with my main stuff. So I just switch it, and my backpack would have two different colours from inside and outside. So I just flip it outside-out.

#### LYDIA

Ahhhh, cool.

#### LOWRI

Very thoughtful, I like that.

#### AHMED

So it's black when I'm... because it's black, so it would match with my main clothes, the jeans and the shirt.

#### LYDIA

Mhm.

#### ADEEB

But from -- when I flip it to my normal clothes, would have blue or red or...

#### LYDIA

I'm guessing, because you do the fabric manipulation, that your quick-change is *proper* quick-change. It's like... *fwoom.* How did that happen? Incredible.

#### AHMED

The boots are the hardest part. I need to --

##### [LYDIA CACKLES]

I need to stop and put them on! Jumping and trying to put them on, and...!

#### LYDIA

I like the idea that once Mini worked out that you're the Turban from the shoes, you've been working together without expressly talking about being superheroes? But you might be like, "Do you know a quicker way to get shoes off and on?" And Mini's been like "Oh, that's... that's interesting!" but doesn't say that she knows roughly where that might be an... And so you've been sketching out ideas on how to do better boot quick-changes.

#### LOWRI

Yeah.

#### PIP

"Perhaps this week, you might like to try a pair of Converse!"

##### [GROUP LAUGHTER]

"Wear some Vans!"

#### LYDIA

Yeah, just... have you tried non-leather shoes, that might help!

##### [LOWRI SNICKERS]

#### PIP

Actually, any shoe not made of leather. Rubber soles are going to be a problem, but you can at least change the colour!

#### LYDIA

We've got you some of those socks with the toes!

#### PIP

Toe socks... augh, gross toe socks -- yes.

#### LOWRI

No, please don't wear them!

##### [SNICKERING]

#### PIP

Don't ruin the cool character.

#### MADDY

All right. So it sounds like we've got a little web of connections here. I am also aware that on your character sheets that there is Influence that you can give out to members of your team. Now I'm not sure if it's exactly going to work, because we're doing it slightly different from how the game intended, because you're meant to have all met before the game starts in the book as written. But for this, you are all meeting in the game. But if there's any Influence that you want to give another character, then you can do that. So that basically gives mechanical benefits to someone else, for rolls against them.

#### LYDIA

Mini thinks Adeeb is heckin' cool, so you've definitely got Influence over her.

#### AHMED

I would probably give to Zenith, as the _(inaudible; "heroics"?)_ -- because I... he seems to know exactly what he's doing, while I'm just winging it.

#### PIP

Sure.

#### LYDIA

But you make such cool fabric wings, like --

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### PIP

I will... I think, this is maybe something that Morgan might know, but I'm going to give influence to Morgan, because I think Joseph personally -- not that he would have expressed this -- is fairly intimidated by her.

#### LOWRI

Oooh.

#### PIP

She's up 2:00am working out...

#### LOWRI

_(snickering)_ Just so strong!

#### PIP

I don't fully... I was going to ask, actually, does Morgan -- superhero -- does she go out and...

#### LOWRI

Um... no.

#### PIP

Okay, so... I like that. So I have no idea even if you have powers honestly, although I, mm, probably could find out.

#### LOWRI

She does disappear a lot through a door, at the end of the library, that you've never been through.

#### PIP

Right.

#### LOWRI

But then it's not that weird, because you've never been there. Not that you've never been there -- you haven't been there very often, so it's not that weird.

#### LYDIA

It's not like a glowing portal, or anything that just goes *whom, whom, whom.*

#### LOWRI

Like her eyes... no, no, no...

#### LYDIA

It's a human door.

#### LOWRI

I don't know what Influence... I guess it would have to be...

#### MADDY

You absolutely don't have to give Influence to anybody, if you don't think it would make sense, for the narrative.

#### LOWRI

Can you... so what is this going to do?

#### LYDIA

What am I signing?!

##### [LAUGHTER, CROSSTALK]

#### LYDIA

What contract did I--?

#### MADDY

When someone has Influence over you, it means you care about what they do, say or think, and at any time you can give Influence to any character who doesn't have Influence over you. And adults automatically have Influence over you when you first meet them.

When you have Influence over someone, you can take +1 to all moves targeting them, including rejecting their Influence. And to take advantage of your Influence over someone, you can give them a -2 on a move they just made, inflict a condition on them, or take an additional +1 to a move targeting them. And there are more rules about it, but...

#### LOWRI

Oh, so it's like a negative thing?

#### MADDY

Yeah, you can make your rolls better or make their rolls worse.

#### LOWRI

Ahhh. And so Pip, were you suggesting that Zenith had influence on Morgan, or Morgan had...

#### PIP

*No.* Other way around. It was like...

#### LOWRI

Oh! Got you, so sorry.

#### PIP

Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you were attempting to make moves -- use any moves against me, you would have...

#### LOWRI

Gotcha.

#### PIP

Or any other ones that are like, assess a person, or find out more, you would have a bonus on that, yeah. Against me personally.

#### LOWRI

I'm very happy with that, then. Yeah, that makes sense to me.

#### MADDY

So yeah, just before we finish up, I'll just go over some of the basic mechanics. Partly for me, to make sure they're in my brain, and partly for the audience too so they've got an idea of how the game works.

So for every roll you use two six-sided dice, and add the label required by the move that you're using. So labels are your stats in this game. And the labels are Danger, Freak, Saviour, Superior or Mundane. And they kind of represent how you see yourself, and they can change throughout the game. You can... I think at any time you can move one label up, and one label down. So it's balancing it out.

And when you roll your two six-sided dice and add your stat on a 6 or lower, you fail. On a 7 to 9 it's a mixed success, and on a 10 or higher it's a success. And also if you fail a roll, even though you haven't managed to do that particular action, you mark Potential, and when you have five Potentials -- when you've failed a roll five times -- then you can take an Advance and basically level up your character a little bit.

#### PIP

We fail forwards.

#### MADDY

Yeah. And there's also a mechanic called Team, where it's basically a pool of a resource that you can use as a group. And so at the start of every session, there's one Team in the pool, and whenever you enter a battle against a dangerous foe, you add two. And depending on whether certain conditions are met at this point, you can add and remove Team from the pool at this point as well. So it's basically like -- the leader of the team has specific things that they can do with Team as well. So depending on how the group dynamics work, you can kind of figure out who's the leader at the moment. Or if there's no leader, we can also figure that out.

And you can also use Team selfishly. So you can remove a Team from the pool to benefit yourself, and not anyone else.

#### LYDIA

Ooh.

#### MADDY

And then you also have conditions. When a move tells you to mark a condition, you can choose from Afraid, Angry, Guilty, Hopeless or Insecure. And each of those gives you a penalty to one of your basic moves -- so these are the moves that any character can use. And if you are asked to mark a condition and have no more conditions to mark, then you are taken out: you are either unconscious or you've run away. So, there's no dying *per se,* unless it's incredibly narratively necessary, but in most cases, it is just, _(laughing)_ "nah, this fight is not going well."

#### PIP

So the conditions are hit points, effectively?

#### MADDY

Yeah, effectively they're your hit points.

#### PIP

Cool, cool.

#### MADDY

And to clear a condition, you have to take a specific action, depending on which condition it is. So if you're angry, then you need to hurt someone or break something important. Or someone else can clear a condition for you by using comforting and supporting moves. Or when you defend someone, you can clear a condition as well. So doing nice things for other people or having someone do something nice for you helps.

Yeah, I think those are the main mechanics of the game! And that comes to the end of our little character-building episode. So thank you so much for listening, and I hope you're as excited to meet our wonderful player characters as I am.

#### LYDIA

_(protesting)_ Just an ordinary human. Like no wonders what-so-ever!

##### [LAUGHTER]

Just *super* normal.

#### MADDY

Yep, just so many humans, doing such human things.

#### LYDIA

Yeah!

#### MADDY

And -- I would now like to ask our wonderful players where we can find them on the Internet and if you have anything to plug. And I would like to start with Lydia, please.

#### LYDIA

Oh, cool. I am Lydia. You can find me on Twitter @LydNicholas. You can watch my chickens be live-streamed at twitch.tv/urbanchooks. You can even feed them, via a Lego-connected contraption.

#### LOWRI

_(gasps)_ What?!

#### LYDIA

Yeah, I know, it's getting cooler! And you know, I do other ordinary human things.

##### [SNICKERING]

#### LOWRI

That's amazing.

#### MADDY

Excellent! Alright, Ahmed, where can we find you on the Internet?

#### AHMED

You would find me almost everywhere @mr_aljabry. I am usually on Twitter, but you'll find me on... _(laughs)_ everywhere. I do cultural consulting; I write adventures, usually for Dungeons and Dragons. Yeah, that's me.

#### MADDY

Incredible. And Lowri, how about you?

#### LOWRI

You'll find me on @LowriTweets, which -- I *am* starting to tweet a bit more, so I am now earning my name, on Twitter. And I guess in other places I'm in Rusty Quill -- *Enthusigasm* -- give a little plug for our very lovely happy chat show. And yeah, that's it.

#### MADDY

Sweet, alright. And Pip?

#### PIP

Yes, you can find me on Twitter @Pip_Gladwin. And I haven't given enough thought to *when* this is going out, so I don't know what I'll be in? That's coming out? Around the time that *this* is coming out?

##### [LYDIA CACKLES]

#### PIP

I'll be in *something* on... RPG: Realms of Power and Glory, check me out on there. And on Twitter, and, yep, _(awkward)_ finished now.

##### [LAUGHTER]

#### MADDY

Alright. You can find me on Twitter @maddy_abstract, where there are links to *all* the various things that I do. And we hope to see you next time on Chapter and Multiverse but until then, from all of us here in the space between worlds, goodbye.

#### EVERYONE

_(chorusing)_ Goodbye!

##### [SHOW THEME - OUTRO]

#### THE ETERNAL TAVERN KEEPER

*Chapter and Multiverse* is a podcast distributed by Rusty Quill and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is directed by Maddy Searle and produced by Natasha Johnston with Executive Producers Alexander J Newall and April Sumner. The Eternal Tavern Keeper was played by Karim Kronfli. This episode was edited by Lowri Ann Davies and Maddy Searle, with music by Nico Vettese. Thank you for listening.