I don't know if that's what you want, but you could include those two layers inside a layer group that has its' own mask besides their individual ones.
Not exactly sure if this is the solution you're looking for but you could have the first layer selected, then add the second mask to your selection. Edit: nvm I think I know what you're talking about, lol
BTW, Photoshop DOES HAVE a bit of such functionality - instanced Smart layers. For example, you have some smart layer, duplicate it. And now you if change the original smart layer - duplicate will change too. But it's not applicable to Masks - they can't be instanced (( So pity...
yeah, i'm aware of that.. my workflow is a massive psd file with groups for diff/normal/spec etc. and accordingly subgroups for organization. so if you're adding, say, scratches in the diffuse layer XYZ and want to 'mirror' them in your spec layer XYZ, you're copying selection masks to and fro all the time. not a big…
The reason i am asking is because i am working on at a start up game company as lead artist. I have 3 artists who are straight out of uni and i need to tech them how to work in the hand painted style for textures. This project has deadlines that need to be met and these deadlines are tight and we have no time for lots of…