Originally Posted by
Thezmage
I've played two games of Masks before that gaming group fell apart, but I listen to a few podcasts that play it, and I played a one shot of Avatar that didn't end up having any actual combat in it (I typically consider this a plus, but it does mean I didn't get a feel for the combat system). I've also played a lot of Monster of the Week which is a different PbtA system that I truly adore
The main thing that sets Masks apart is the shifting labels. You have five stats but they're always in flux based on how your character reacts to and is treated by the people around them, so you might start with a really high mundane and pick your moves around that only to have everybody push your mundane down during the course of the game. Some level ups do allow you to lock a stat so it can't be moved anymore. Avatar, meanwhile, only has one shiftable stat while the other four are static.
When it comes to PbtA, what I like about it is that, because the games are narrative, you can pretty much be or do anything, your stats are just how well you can do it. When you want to attack, it's the same roll with the same stat regardless of whether you're using superspeed, waterbending, swordplay, or a sawed off shotgun (some games, such as Monster of the Week, have damage tracks, so you do a variable amount of damage depending on the weapon, while Avatar and Masks just have conditions, so most attacks only do one "damage").
Again, I didn't experience Avatar's combat system, but it appears to be quite a bit more in depth than prior PbtA games I played, so I can't really comment too much on how fun that is, but I'm sure they're putting a lot of effort into it.
I'll confess that I wrote this out over a couple of days, so apologies if I didn't address your question