(Interest Check) Monsterhearts

Started by writersmelody, March 23, 2013, 07:43:11 PM

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writersmelody

For those of you that know about the awesomeness that is Monsterhearts, the title says it all. For those of you that don't, think Buffy meets True Blood with a dash of Vampire Diaries thrown in. It is an Apocalypse World hack. The text below, taken from the book, says it better than I could:

Most teenagers get to grow up without encountering anything scarier than gang violence, drug overdoses and chlamydia. They think that’s the worst that the world has to offer them, and they have the luxury of laughing.

You don’t have the luxury of laughing. You know the world has hideous, horrible things hiding in the shadows. You know because you’re one of them. There’s wickedness that dwells within your chest, darkness that courses through your veins.

Most teenagers will never know that things like you exist, the secret monsterhearts.


It is a game about the messiness of growing up and the monster in all of us. This is intended to be a teen supernatural soap opera, full of angst and melodrama. Like I said, think Buffy. There will be sex. There will be conflict, within and between each character. Speaking of, all of them fit an archetype- Vampire, Werewolf, Witch, etc.

It's very rules-lite, the character archetypes are legally available for free here . The game is intended to be set in a high school as it is supposed to be about growing up and learning how to deal with your hormones as well as your abilities. Characters would be 16-17. Be warned there is no such thing as the straight defense in this game, so be prepared for your character and yourself to be surprised by their reaction to a character of the same gender.

To sum up the fee once againl, think Buffy if it aired on HBO.

No knowledge of the system is required. Due to RL time constraints, I intend this to be a bit slower moving. It will not be first come, first serve. I would be looking for a balanced cast of 3-5 other characters (preferably 2 or 3 characters of each gender) with no repeat skins for variety. Players would be flexible and creative with a healthy sense of humor. As for where this game belongs, I am thinking perhaps Light or Bondage. So, who would be interested?
- Writer's Melody

"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind." - William Shakespeare


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Ebb

This looks fascinating. I've played Apocalypse World, but have never seen this hack before. If you can get a group together I'd be game to be part of it.

RSGAlex

I'm a bit interested. Purchased the thing a while back, and have been itching to use it.
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Cold Heritage

I'm interested. I think I'd like to play the Ghoul.
Thank you, fellow Elliquiyan, and have a wonderful day.

writersmelody

Thank you all for your responses! :)

There would be three of you, four including myself, so far. Not sure if any of you were planning on playing a female character. I'd be prepared to start this with you all, leaving some room for a couple others to potentially join in.
- Writer's Melody

"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind." - William Shakespeare


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Cold Heritage

I don't plan on playing a female character.

I am more than willing to bow out and make room for someone else who is if that will result in better gender balance, if things come to that.
Thank you, fellow Elliquiyan, and have a wonderful day.

writersmelody

If the players would be all right with an unbalanced cast, bearing in mind the dynamics that are likely to arise, I would be fine with that. :)
- Writer's Melody

"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind." - William Shakespeare


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Ebb

I'd be willing to roll a female character in order to get a richer gender mix. Though if anyone has a personal preference for not interacting with a man playing a woman, I can respect that. I'm also willing to leave the net in the water for another day or so to see who else wanders in.

writersmelody

#8
I am going to give it until Tuesday to see if there is any other interest.  If not, I still think 4 (including myself) is a decent enough size for this game (typically run for 4 to 5 players.) And it's really about what you all would be comfortable with, hence my suggestion for a more balanced cast. I know some players like that, especially in a game like this where the mechanics dictate your character might be turned on by someone of the same gender regardless of previous experiences or emotions regarding same-sex relationships. (Allow me to state this does NOT mean your character is required to have sex with that person or try to make a move or anything like that, it is not how that part- or any part- of the system is intended. What it does mean is that your character felt something they may not have been expecting... As I mentioned there is no such thing as "but my character is ____sexual, that wouldn't affect them!" This is about your character discovering facets of their sexuality they may not have been aware of, surprising themselves and possibly their player.) If none of you would mind having more males than females as PCs, then I certainly don't either. :)
- Writer's Melody

"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind." - William Shakespeare


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CarnivalOfTheGoat

#9
I have AW but haven't ever played it...But I'm definitely curious, now. Expressing interest, haven't quite settled on a character. Going to go dig up my AW and re-read it. Balance-wise, I am non-finicky. The play's the thing, not the parts.

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

Cold Heritage

I sort of just took it for granted that anyone could turn anyone else on if they actually cared to make the move - rolling 7+ on even 2d6-1 isn't terrible odds of success. The surprise for me wouldn't be that my character got turned on by someone, but that someone else would want to turn my character on. And I guess the how of it, as any method is legitimate for making that move.

Hey, CarnivalOfTheGoat. Welcome.
Thank you, fellow Elliquiyan, and have a wonderful day.

Malrunar

Consider me interested. There are a few types that have caught my eye, but I'm going to do a little more reading before I pick. ^___^

writersmelody

#12
I think there is definitely enough interest to get a game going with those of you that have posted here. :) After giving it some thought, I have decided to reserve the Chosen skin for the GMPC, leaving all the other "canon" skins, including the Limited Edition ones, a couple of which- The Serpentine and The Angel- are also legally available for free. There may be certain conditions attached to playing the Queen.  I do not intend to accept any fanmade skins into this game, though there are some quality ones and interesting concepts out there. A link will be posted here either tomorrow or Tuesday.

- Writer's Melody

"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind." - William Shakespeare


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Malrunar

Well, if we're able to put a 'dibs' on a skin, I'd love to play a witch. :)

Ebb

That's wonderful -- I'm really excited about this game now. I actually purchased the PDF based on the discussion here, not realizing until afterward that it was written by Joe McDaldno, whose other work I've liked a lot.

Would you like for us to discuss possible choices of skins here, or would you rather we wait until an OOC thread is up?

writersmelody

I don't mind if you all discuss potential skins here, though any further discussion on characters should likely wait for the game. :)

And wow, that's cool to hear, Ebb, I'm always happy to introduce willing learners to awesome games!
- Writer's Melody

"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind." - William Shakespeare


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CarnivalOfTheGoat

I note that there also appears to be a Doppelganger skin, although it's third-party.

There are some playtests of it floating around as well.

I need to pick up the rules, haven't the foggiest notion yet what to pick!

But it's definitely neat to see this much enthusiasm for something this obscure.

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

writersmelody

The accepted skins are going to be The Chosen, The Fae, The Ghost, The Ghoul, The Mortal, The Infernal, The Queen (potentially with caveats), The Vampire, The Werewolf, The Witch, The Angel, The Hollow, The Selkie, and The Serpentine.

I've never seen that skin in use but I have seen other third party material in games I've been in. The Fury is my favorite fan-made skin I think.

Some of them are awesome but for this game I'd prefer to stick with the official skins. Rumor has it there is another book of skins going to be coming out soon...
- Writer's Melody

"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind." - William Shakespeare


(Specifically Seeking Someone to Write Solas)
(On/Offs)
(Absences/Apologies) (updated 2/9/24)

Ebb

Can you point me toward someplace I can grab The Hollow and The Selkie, please?

Of the others, right now my first picks are (in no particular order):

The Fae
The Infernal
The Angel
The Mortal


RSGAlex

I kinda like the Hollow.

And I forgot about the Angel entirely. (I'm kinda sad that none of the others extra skins got the Under the Skin like the Serpentine did.)
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CarnivalOfTheGoat

#20
Quote from: Ebb on March 25, 2013, 08:32:17 AM
Can you point me toward someplace I can grab The Hollow and The Selkie, please?

Author has them on their site here.

Quote from: RSGAlex on March 25, 2013, 02:25:06 PM(I'm kinda sad that none of the others extra skins got the Under the Skin like the Serpentine did.)

Same site has an 'Under the Skin' page for the additional skins except for the Angel.

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

RSGAlex

I meant more as it's own separate thing. I don't know why, but that amused me about the Serpentine skin. You have the skin, and then you have a separate file that's just a half page of text about the Skin.

Or perhaps I just done screwed up my download, because the Hollow and the Selkie don't have them separate.
Signature Recreation Pending....

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Please wait warmly.

CarnivalOfTheGoat

Picked up from DriveThruRPG this morning.

Think I'm currently looking at (in order of preference):

The Selkie
The Vampire
The Mortal
The Witch

Alex, the site I linked has a page which has the 'extra half page' about the Serpentine, as well as more about the Hollow and the Selkie. Looks like GM material to me.

My O/Os. My A/As.
Games I seek:
Savage Worlds of My Little Pony <- Just what it says. Free supplement for SW. (Or any other MLP RP!!! :D)
Eclipse Phase <- Posthuman grit SF, open source, downloadable from their web site. VERY deep worldbuilding.
Cold City <- Espionage meets the Lovecraftian supernatural. Allies in post-war Berlin chasing down the results of secret Nazi experiments
a|state <- Post-apocalyptic sort-of-steampunk, sort-of-high tech roleplay in a massive, decaying, broken-down city-state.

RSGAlex

At least as I understand it from AW, it's more of a "How to use some bits of this skin that may not be apparent/General Hints" type thing.

But I can't claim the best knowledge of AW either. Other than one thing.

Beware the Marmoset.
Signature Recreation Pending....

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Please wait warmly.

Ebb

Thanks for the link, Carnival. Gotta catch 'em all, and all that.

It looks like we're up to three men and three women players, including our GM/Chosen, so I'll likely play a male character this time out.