The Mastermind

You were wronged, unjustly and cruelly. You hardly appreciated your place in the world before you were left discarded at the bottom, and nobody came to your rescue.

It’s lonely down here, but distance from power gave you a gift: room to maneuver, and freedom to work from the shadows. You’ve got a plan to set everything right. And if justice comes with a side of revenge, all the better.

They’ll say you’re mad. But you’ll show them. You’ll show them all.

Identity

Name: Angelica, Edith, Garett, Hadley, Jamie, Mason, Meredith, Rhys, Sebastian, Vincent, Yolanda
Look: preppy, smoldering, sulking, preoccupied, airs of superiority
Eyes: haughty eyes, wistful eyes, vengeful eyes, knowing eyes, obsessing eyes
Origin: child prodigy, exiled, cut out of the will, black sheep, bound to the mortal realm

Backstory

You believe someone played a role in your grave injustice. You both gain a String on each other.

Somone refused to pledge their loyalty to you. They gain 2 Strings on you.

Stats

Pick one Stat line:

Hot 2	Cold -1	Volatile -1	Dark 1
Hot -1	Cold 1	Volatile -1	Dark 2

Advancement

Add +1 to one of your stats.
Take another Mastermind move.
Take another Mastermind move.
Take a move from any Skin.
Take a move from any Skin.
Bring your Master Plan to fruition regardless of its likelihood to succeed, paying any price decided by the MC.

Mastermind Moves

You get Master Plan, and choose two more:

Master Plan

You are always concocting a master plan to remedy your Injustice. When you believe all is ready, give a grand, audacious victory monologue, put the final step in motion, and mark experience. The MC decides the plan’s outcome.

Henchmen

You can give someone a String to tempt them into pledging their loyalty to you. When you order your Henchman to advance your Master Plan, they obey; but roll with Dark. On a 10 and up, your Henchman chooses two. • On a 7-9, they choose one:

they understand your instructions perfectly,
they face no ethical qualms,
they leave no trace behind.

When a Henchman completes a task, gain a String on each other.

Unhinged

When you let your long-simmering anger explode, gain the Condition unhinged. While you are unhinged, swap your Dark and Volatile stats.

Puppet Master

Through lies, threats, or rumors, you may use the Pulling Strings move on anyone, as long as the String you spend was originally meant for someone close to them.

Empath

When you’re talked down to by someone who thinks they’re your better, gain insight to their motivation. That character reveals their secret fear or need in that moment, and you take 1 Forward.

Schemes Within Schemes

When you grit your teeth and obey an authority against your will, tell the MC how you could still turn the situation to your favor. Include it as a step in your Master Plan and mark experience when you accomplish it.

Mad Science

You have a unique expertise, and a place to practice it away from prying eyes. Add 1 to your rolls while at work there. Choose one:

you can fabricate gear from a workshop,
you have a library full of technical or magical wisdom,
you unearth people's secrets,
you influence news & culture.

Sex Move

After you have sex with someone, incorporate them into a crucial part of your Master Plan, whether they know it or not.

Darkest Self

You’re had enough of consorting with these mundane fools, as if you were one of them. Even your friends. Especially your friends. You’re their better and they should know it, so it’s time to finally show them. Demand fealty and accept no half measures. You escape your Darkest Self when your Master Plan comes to fruition, completely falls apart, or you learn that it can never really give you what you want.

Playing The Mastermind

Patient, secretive, and scorned. The Mastermind once had it all, and now obsesses over an Injustice that cost them everything. The Mastermind embodies entitlement, superiority, and a taste for power.

Both stat lines reflect the Mastermind’s slow, deliberate nature. Choose whether that means being alluring and enigmatic (Hot 2 & Dark 1) or bitter and methodical (Dark 2 & Cold 1). What did you lose, and why do you deserve it more than anyone else? Your Mastermind’s origin can be anything from disinherited nobility, to a literal fallen angel.

As a Mastermind, you obsess over an overriding goal, and Master Plan represents the series of steps you take to achieve it. It will naturally evolve as you encounter obstacles and stetbacks. Keep track of your plan’s progression in order to deliver a devastating victory monologue at its climax.

Only the MC can decide the outcome of a Master Plan, and your victory monologue is how you get the MC on your side. Don’t get hung up on having an air-tight plan to impress the MC, just punch up the melodrama and have fun with it. Sometimes plans fail. And sometimes growth comes from learning that the world is already unfair, and not every setback is personal.

When your plan reaches its conclusion, for better or worse, decide your character’s future. Do you start over with a new plan, cross out Master Plan and pick a new Skin, or bow out of the story entirely?