Masks: Halcyon Superheroics 101: Io
Identity[edit]
Hero Name: Io
Real Name: Jade "JJ" Jupiter
Look[edit]
Woman, mixed, lean, casual clothes, colourful costume
Labels[edit]
- Danger -1
- Freak +1
- Savior +1
- Superior +3
- Mundane -1
Doc Jupiter embodies Superior and denies Freak
Conditions[edit]
o Afraid (-2 to directly engage a threat)
o Angry (-2 to comfort or support or pierce the mask)
o Guilty (-2 to provoke someone or assess the situation)
o Hopeless (-2 to unleash your powers)
o Insecure (-2 to defend someone or reject others’ influence)
Abilities[edit]
Own ability: Telepathy and telekinesis
Shared ability: Weapons and gadgets
Mentor's ability: Scientific genius
Moves[edit]
Fireside chat: When you seek advice from your mentor, roll + the Label they embody. On a hit they will tell you what to do. On a 10+, mark potential if you follow their advice, and take +1 ongoing to follow through. On a 7-9, you get +1 forward to see it through if you do it their way. On a miss, they don’t have time for you because something big has gone down; mark a condition, GM’s choice.
Heroic tradition: When you give someone the advice that you think your mentor would give, you can roll + the Label your mentor embodies to comfort or support someone, instead of rolling + Mundane.
Venting frustration: When you directly engage while you are Angry, you can roll + the Label your mentor denies and clear Angry.
Resources[edit]
A hidden base
Communicators
Teleportals
Moment of Truth[edit]
The moment that you show who you really are: your mentor, or something different. You can do whatever your mentor could do and more. You can do the incredible, even the things they always failed to accomplish. Of course, they’re not going to see you the same way, no matter which path you choose...
Team Moves[edit]
When you share a triumphant celebration with someone, ask them if you’ve been a good leader or effective teammate. If they say yes, your mentor loses Influence over you and you mark potential. If they say no, your mentor gains Influence over you, and you take +1 forward on using the Label your mentor embodies.
When you share a vulnerability or weakness with someone, tell them a secret about your mentor (including your feelings towards them). Give them Influence over you and add 1 Team to the pool.
Potential[edit]
øoooo
Advances[edit]
o Take another move from your playbook
o Take another move from your playbook
o Take a move from another playbook
o Someone permanently loses Influence over you; add +1 to a Label
o Rearrange your Labels as you choose, and add +1 to a Label
o Add +2 to the Label your mentor embodies or denies
o Choose up to four more resources from your mentor
o Unlock your Moment of Truth
Backstory[edit]
In his younger days, Dr Jericho Jupiter was a scientist and genius gadgeteer who travelled through the galaxy on the aetheric waves in search of new discoveries and adventures. He liberated alien planets, defended the Earth from a tyrant on the moon, uncovered mysteries and conspiracies through space and time.
Perhaps his most memorable encounter of all was with Alena, psychic princess of an alien empire. Jupiter rescued her from both an assassination plot and an arranged marriage, she rescued him from imprisonment by her scheming relatives, and somewhere along the line they fell in love. But once their daughter Jade was born, the couple had to make a hard decision. Alena had taken the throne, making the half-human Jade the heir to the empire, and Alena's enemies were still out there. In the end Jupiter returned to his home, to raise the girl in secret from the rest of the galaxy
Jade, or JJ as she prefers, was raised on Earth with only stories of her father's adventures in space. Empress Alena's responsibilities keep her to distant planets, and visiting Earth would draw too much attention; the two speak occasionally but haven't met since Jade was a baby. Dr Jupiter raised his daughter smart and curious and bold, but also taught her to hide her true nature. But when Jade hit her teens and manifested the psychic abilities inherited from her mother's royal bloodline, it was only a matter of time until she became a superhero, with her father's somewhat reluctant support.
JJ and her team have access to the Toybox, a room in a pocket dimension with multiple entrances hidden throughout the city, including one located behind an unused door in the school basement. This is also where JJ works on her gadgets, some repurposed or modded from her father's, some her own. One she always has on her is a pair of gravity boots. She also wear a disc-shaped crystal pendant that looks like a window to the stars, a rare gift from her mother. It bends light in interesting ways, intended for cosmetic use, but she uses it to hide the natural green colour of her eyes and hair when out of costume.
Doc Jupiter's identity was never exactly a secret, but given how long ago he was active and that most of his adventures took place off-world, he's a pretty obscure hero. Most people don't put together that Dr Jericho Jupiter (science teacher) and Doc Jupiter (space hero!) are the same person, but it's there if you go looking. Like finding out your music teacher used to be in a punk band.
Other Q&A[edit]
So who's going to come looking for Jade if/when something happens to Alena?
Officially the only one Alena has entrusted with the knowledge of Jade's existence and whereabouts is Liana, her personal guard and childhood friend, who helped expose the original conspiracy. Her sworn duty is to protect Alena, but if anything happened then Jade is her next priority. However, it's also possible that one of the kids at Jade's school might be an alien shapeshifter tasked with monitoring her, just in case. Her mom hasn't even told her dad about that one.
And of course there are rumours and spies in the Imperial court. In particular Alena's younger sister (Jade's aunt) was the one behind the plot to have her assassinated; she was exposed and exiled, but there are still a few secretly loyal to her, and plenty who oppose Alena's (relatively) peaceful and egalitarian rule. And there are rebels and conquerors and bounty hunters and space pirates; being an Empress is a big job with a lot of enemies.
What does your costume look like? What message is it trying to send?
Green and white colour scheme, chunky boots and jacket over a space-y jumpsuit. No mask, but an oversized pair of aetheric goggles passed down from her dad. Plus as Io, she has her natural hair and eye colour (also green!) on display to further distance from her everyday look.
It's mostly functional - the jacket has a bunch of pockets, the boots are infused with gravitons, the goggles can see energy signatures. The vibe is retrofuturistic, likely because half of it is Doc Jupiter tech that she's tweaked, while the rest is her own gadgets.
What is your home life like?
Only child and single parent. He's a genius and a teacher, so very focused on JJ's academics, and extremely protective on top of that. Admittedly for good reason, but her life has been a whole lot of study and rules and expectations and supervision. If anyone asks, her parents are 'separated', which is not inaccurate.
Outside of school and home, where are you most likely to be found when not in hero mode?
Messing around in her workshop, the Toybox, which may be an actual pocket dimension depending on which mentor resources I end up taking. I figure a secret base for the team would be a good one.
Other than that, probably the library, cinema, or retro arcade.
Which Hero, other than your mentor, do you look up to?
Extra is one of the few alien heroes in Halcyon. They're openly non-human, don't give a crap what anyone thinks of them, and have a side gig as a musician where they use their light and sound powers to put on shows. JJ thinks they're like the coolest person on the planet, owns a signed copy of their debut album So F***ing Extra, and wishes she had a tenth of their attitude and confidence.
Which Villain do you dread encountering the most?
Null and Void are a pair of interplanetary bounty hunters who've had multiple clashes with both Doc Jupiter and then-Princess Alena over the years. They've gone dark since the Empire stabilised, and have never been active on Earth...but it's likely only a matter of time before they try again.
Their names aren't actually Null and Void, but a quirk of their powers is that you can't record anything about them. Cameras can't see them, files go blank, writing fades, telepathy doesn't work on them. Even memories go fuzzy; when talking about them, Doc Jupiter couldn't really describe what they looked like. All JJ knows is that they're dangerous and have a grudge against her family.
When Our Team First Came Together[edit]
We stuck together after all was said and done. Why? How'd we keep in contact?
Despite all the chaos and destruction, we managed to stop something none of us could have tackled alone and save a whole bunch of people. We were keen to stick together to do more good, to watch each others' backs, and, frankly, to have people our own age we could actually talk to about this whole superhero double-life thing. Doc Jupiter provided communicators to the team, so they have something a bit more secure for superhero talk than using cellphones, with a few extra functions like working as translators or distress beacons if needed.
Relationships[edit]
- Doc Jupiter is cautious; he asked Io to keep an eye on Preston Digits
- Her dad probably doesn't much trust magic at the best of times, let alone in the hands of a traumatised kid who used to be a villain sidekick.
- Io and Fennec Fox teamed up a few times before the team came together
Influence[edit]
Io has influence over Fennec and La Rabia
Fennec and Gravitas have influence over Io