Monsterhearts: Interest Check

[Gris]

I want to try running a game of Monsterhearts with you lovely people, and see what happens. What the hell is Monsterhearts you may ask? Well, it's a pretty simple pen and paper RPG than in the word of the author right out of the book... "it’s a story game about supernatural romance and teenage desperation. Vampires, werewolves, witches: they dream and suffer among us. It’s unclear whether they can live among normal people, and whether their wicked hearts can be redeemed. When you play Monsterhearts, you become one of these teenage monsters. You explore their secrets and fears. You bring them to life. You play because the characters are sexy and broken. You play because teen sexuality is awkward and magnetic, which means it makes for brilliant stories. You play because despite themselves, despite the world they live in, despite their fangs and their bartered souls and their boiling cauldrons, these aren’t just monsters. They’re burgeoning adults, trying to meet their needs. They’re who we used to be - who we still are sometimes. You play to get lost, and to remember.And let’s be honest. You play because you have a guilty attraction to supernatural beasts and harlequin love stories, but you harbor the secret presumption that you could write them way better yourself. Good. This is your opportunity to prove it."

Are you still there? Good. In this game you basically create a character out of "class" or "skin" as the game calls them. These skins are both a type of monster and a metaphor about the struggles a teenager may have. The game has a system for manipulating NPC, turning other characters on (including PC), a system of "strings" (social currency characters can have on each other) and even accounts for how sex can things turn things even messier. So yeah, even considering that we would fade to black on those moments, it's a game that can get quite intense, intimate and violent.

The list of skins should give a good idea of what kind of teenage you can play, so I'm going to summarize it here. Despite the names the skins they may have, they aren't gender exclusive:

The Chosen
Powerful, vengeful, conflicted, masochistic. The Chosen is a monster slayer who finds themselves drawn to the darkness.

The Fae
Alluring, exotic, fickle, vengeful. The Fae is all about extracting promises, and delivering faerie vengeance when those promises are broken.

The Ghost
Tormented, insecure, intuitive, fickle. The ghost is all about channeling past trauma, seeing people’s true selves, and having spooky powers.

The Ghoul
Cold, unwavering, hungry. The ghoul died, and came back with dulled emotions and a hunger for human flesh. The ghoul benefits from being disaffected and malicious.

The Infernal
Powerful, desperate, addicted. The infernal has a demonic sugar daddy - someone who gets them things they want. At a price.

The Mortal
Vulnerable, codependent, magnetic, beautiful. The mortal is all about benefiting from codependency, and racking up experience.

The Queen
Commanding, irresistible, bitchy, sexy. The queen is all about turning cliques and popularity into weapons.

The Vampire
Icy, manipulative, pretty, hypnotic. The vampire is all about emotional entrenchment and emotional dominance.

The Werewolf
Passionate, violent, muscular, fickle. The werewolf is all about using physical violence and transformation to get what it wants.

The Witch
Manipulative, secretive, judgemental, brooding. The witch is all about casting silent judgment, and powerful hexes, from the safety of her own bedroom.

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The system itself doesn't go much further than choosing what to do, rolling two d6 and adding a small stat to the result. Then on a 10+ you get all you could want from that decision, on a 7-9 you get things done but there is a cost or a hard choice around it, and on a 6 or less things go south. Character creation is also pretty easy, there isn't many "points" to spend and all depends on making som non numerical choices so it's quite easy. The Wikipedia article is brief but covers things pretty well if someone wants a bit more information about the game.

So if you can picture yourself playing a teenage monster in your everyday American town, going to high school and diving straight into those weird and messy years, live those awkward experiences of self discovery, maybe this is your game.

[Mephistel]

This does sound interesting! Count me in

[GPMC]

Count me in.

[leska]

I could do this

[Gris]

Nice, I'm going to give it a few days before moving on with it in case someone else wants to hop in.

[Mephistel]

Id probably go with the Fae or the Infernal

[lilithsboy]

I would like to play too

[Gris]

Good. Four is more than enough for a game like this, although that doesn't mean that people can't join later as a mysterious transfer student or anything alike. Later today I'll reach all of you in a group PM so we can start with the character creation.

[GPMC]

Chosen
Fay
Witch
Infernal would be my favourites in that order I think.
:-}

[Mephistel]

Is it possible to play as twins ? Cause I have 2 concept in mind One is twins, the other is something else, but if I can play as twins, that'd be awesome!

[Gris]

I sent a group PM with the first step, so we can start the character creation there.
Even if we have more than enough players, the game could hold one or maybe two more players, so if anyone else wants in, warn me.

[Gris]

Lets see, a brief an explanation as possible:

* The skins start with a +1 on a couple of stats and a -1 on the other two, allowing you to add 1 to any of those to turn it into a 0 or a +2 depending on the value. Those four stats govern each and every move, with Hot covering attraction and manipulation, Cold in charge of berating people and keeping calm, Volatile covers both sides of the fight or flight impulse and Dark takes care of things supernatural and creepy. To use any of those moves or the ones listed that require a roll, you use 2D6 and add the corresponding stat. A 10+ means excellent success, a 7-9 means success at a price or partial success, under 6 is a failure. This is the core mechanic and it's reinforced by the strings, forward and conditions.

* Strings represent an emotional hold, an advantage over another character. Maybe they owe you one, or you know a secret of them, or they fancy you... etc. It's a mostly social currency that it's made to be earned by the moves and spent like spare change. The quick guide on the first PM covers all the uses, but they be spent against the PC you hold a string of to:
- Add 1 to your roll against them (choose after rolling).
- Subtract 1 from their roll against you (choose after rolling).
- Offer them an experience point to do what you want.
- Force them to hold steady in order to carry out a certain action.
- Add an extra harm to whatever harm you’re dealing them.
- Place a Condition on them.

* You can also have Strings against NPCs, and they can be used to:
- Add 1 to your roll against them (choose after rolling).
- Add 3 to your manipulate an NPC roll against them (choose after rolling).
- Cause them to falter, hesitate, or freeze up momentarily.
- Add an extra harm to whatever harm you’re dealing them.
- Place a Condition on them.

* Conditions are basically that, a descriptor of a situation of the character, and they are better if they are a public perception or a physical circumstance than an emotion, but they can be anything. Some moves, as the Ghost's Unresolved Trauma give specific conditions as Blamed but others like the basic move like Shut Someone Down, you can make up what condition you apply as it's appropriate to the situation. This is probably more clear with an example:

Sara (PC, a Queen), head cheerleader of the school, has been badmouthing the rest of the cheerleading team after her bad break up with Brad, the football team's quarterback after finding him with his coach. Alexandra (PC, a Ghoul) despite being a nerdy outcast is fed up with that shit, specially since it's affecting her girlfriend Linda that's on the team, so she approaches Sara and tells her that she's a bitch so frigid that made her boyfriend go with the manly coach. Alexandra rolls 2d6 + Cold to Shut Someone Down. If she rolls 6- she will fail and get into trouble, if she rolls 10+ she will be able to put any condition (Frigid Bitch, for example) on Sara. She gets an 8, so she chooses to give Sara the Frigid Bitch condition, but she will be able to put her any condition in return. Sara threatens Alexandra to make the lives of her and anyone close to her impossible, giving Alexandra the Pariah condition.

* That's fine but... what's the mechanical impact of a condition and how can I get rid of them? Easy, anyone who rolls against someone with a condition in a situation that takes advantage of it, takes a +1 on their roll. In the example above, Sara or her cronies could have a +1 to rough up Alexandra, since no one will come to help a Pariah. Conditions can be removed when the character takes action to alleviate it (and so the situations and requirements may vary) or with the Hold Steady move.

* Finally, Forward or Carrying Forward is a +1 bonus on the next roll, sometimes applicable only in a certain type or roll or during a certain amount of time, always specified by the thing that gave you the bonus.

[shenron]

I have always wanted to try this as well. I have a few copies.

[Gris]

Real life is severely limiting my time and this is already slow enough, so even if I'm very sorry about it I have to stop it and leave it before it begins. If the schedule clears up in the future I'll try for a more streamlined version.

[Mephistel]

I see...too bad, I was looking forward to this! Well, if it ever comes around, my concept done and ready!