[MonsterHearts][Medieval] The Dragon of Inglenook Lake

[Kippers]

When the two Great Knights of Inglenook Lake died, a dragon claimed their treasure and surrounded it with fire.

King Cameron said he'd claim it with 20 good men.

Lord Leonardo said he'd do it with a dozen.

Baron Barnaby said he'd do it with a single knight.

Some jackass said he'd do it with a single squire.

So now the pissing contest is afoot and here you are, humble shieldbearer, marched off to the lake to represent your kin and country, defeat the other squires sent to bar your path, and bring back the Great Knights Seal.

Luckily for you, you're more than meets the eye. Nobody said the squire had to be human, after all... a detail that would undoubtedly elude the fools ruling the other kingdoms.

This is a Monsterheart game with the following changes:

• Instead of teenaged monsters, everyone plays an adult squire. 20+ preferred.
• Everyone gets a free horse.
• The recipient of a "Turn Someone On" move may choose to be "Creeped Out" instead. The effects are the same, except on a 7-9 they may choose to "give up a string on you" instead of "give themself to you".
• Any time the rules allow you to ask the MC a question, it will be settled with the auto-GM rules from Mythic Gamemaster Emulator unless it's something already pre-established in the setting.

No books? No problem. Just let me know. Any skin from the core game or Skins For the Skinless is allowed. I'm open to others. The game will run for one "season," the finale of which will probably be the dragon leaving his fire pit to get a snack and finally becoming vulnerable, but there will be surprises along the way.

I'm aiming for 5-7 players.

Resources Cheat Sheet Basic Skins Review of MonsterHearts and -Very Thorough- Rules Summary Snek Skin Neat Graphic About the Stat System GM Emulator Rules Summary* * You don't actually need to know all of this last one, but the Fate Chart is how I'm going to resolve questions that could go either way (e.g. Are there turtles in the lake?) To Join Up Pick a skin and think up a name Announce those 2 things in this thread Put your character's name and skin in the string tracker Decide on your stats & starting moves In each skin, there's a backstory section detailing who starts with strings (emotional leverage) on whom and why. We'll have to bend some of the whys a bit, since the premise is "you all are competing strangers," but some of you might have met on the road to the Lake's local inn or had previous cross-kingdom dealings. I encourage you to discuss possibilities. First scene will be up this weekend or Monday, depending on how long it takes to pick up a 5th player and get starting strings going. First "session" is going to be sandboxy character intros and then we can get into the meat of things.

[wander]

Interested.  :-)

Let me know what you'd like from me to play.

[GamesWithDragon]

I shall be joining, and using The Creature skin. because Deep One shenanigans. Blub blub Cthulhu Blub blub

[Kathyan]

I'm interested too, I got the books but have never actually played ^^

[wander]

Games' avatar and watching Mangastorian's new vid for their Berserk playlist is probably gonna influence my Skin and character.  ;D

[Kathyan]

I was thinking going either Fae or Ghoul ::)

[Kippers]

Ah, it's fantastic to find someone else with the books! And yay for interest! You guys are getting me really hype.

I put in some resources and some "how to join." Let me know if there's any more questions.

[GamesWithDragon]

Name: Gilliam Fareway
Skin: The Creature (found here)
Stats: Hot -1, Cold 1, Volatile 2, Dark -1
Moves: Missing Link, Territorial (The nearby lake), Squamous.
Look: Swimmer's Build
Eyes: Black Eyes
Origin: Last of your kind
Cause: Save his race from extinction.

Avatar!

[wander]

Name: Daniel
Skin: The Ghost
Stats: Hot -1, Cold 0, Volatile +1, Dark +2
Moves:
o Unresolved Trauma
o Helpful Spirit
o Creep
Look: Forlorn
Eyes: Pained Eyes
Origin: Left to Die.

Avatar: Clicky

I'll wait until more peeps are about to figure out my character's Strings going in.

[ThatFantasticBard]

Name: Mika
Skin: Infernal
Stats: Hot -1, Cold -1, Volatile 2, Dark 2
Look: Frantic
Eyes: Burning Eyes
Origin: Bartered Soul
Infernal Moves:

• Soul Debt (The Tyrant)
• Under Pressure

Bargains

• Strings Attached
• The Power Flows Through You

[isador]

I'm totally in for this.



Name: Artimisia of Vincar
Skin: Fae
Stats: Hot 2, Cold -1, Volatile -1, Dark 1
Moves: Faery Contract, The Constant Bargain, Lure
Look: Girlish
Eyes: Mysterious Eyes
Origin: Touched

I can already say that since my character is a Fae, everyone gets a free string on my character.  The reasoning for this is that Artimisia is a famed duelist in the dukedom of Vincar, but unfortunately rumors have spread to all kingdoms that some, if not most of her victories may have been the result of her actions in the bedroom rather than her actions in the arena.

However, since she is rather famous, one character in the group will fancy Artimisia. I'm open to suggestions as to who that might be, Artimisia gets 2 strings on that character.

[wander]

I've got that someone knows my Ghost is dead and how they died, the person who does that gets 2 Strings on my dood.

Then, my Ghost has been in the bedroom of someone and seen them sleeping; I get to take 1 String on them. Who wants to be creeped on?  :D

Isador; I may take you up on your second option, unless someone else wants to go for it. I'm open to talking everything out before we jump in.

[GamesWithDragon]

My backstory options are:

Someone was once an ally in your Cause. they get two strings on you.

Someone thinks you are a dangerous fanatic. They get one string on you.

You know someone is secretly involved in working against your Cause. Take two strings on them.

So in all three options someone knows my character is kind of strange in how he regards the environment given the setting :P

[wander]

I really like that first option, I'd like to go with that if you're cool and noone else wants it.  :-)

Ties nicely into my character having a life before being a Ghost, being an ally to someone when they were still alive, y'see.

[GamesWithDragon]

Seems like a nice idea. I'm cool with doing that if no one else comes up with an idea for your ghost.

Addendum: Since your origin is "Left to Die" it might be that Gilliam left him behind during some event and thats what caused his death.

[wander]

Aye, my thoughts were Daniel got wounded and left for dead, I keep thinking of it likely happening on a battlefield given the setting, though it could easily have been after something like a bandit ambush or whatever. May not even be a violent death, maybe the exposure got him or something.

Or he got struck with a plague and was left to peter out that way... The above probably fits more though. Unless he had serious injury and was left and infection + shock got him in the end...

[Kathyan]

Name: Alice
Skin: The Ghoul
Stats: Hot -1, Cold 2, Volatile 1, Dark -1
Moves:
o The Hunger: Flesh
o Dissafected
o Satiety
Look: Striking
Eyes: Quite Eyes
Origin: Resurrected

Backstory:
Someone reminded you what love was, when you thought that death had stolen it away from you forever. Give them 2 Strings.

Did anyone watch you die, or watch you come back to life? If so, you both gain 2 Strings on each other.




I thought Alice previously helped her king and the knight she served before and she did a good job, a great job in fact, bad thing is that it costed her life, now thanks to some necromancy magic she has been allowed to be back with the living and once again was sent into action. Since we are supposed to be strangers I think others could still know her since she would have some renown.

[GamesWithDragon]

Hmm, suddenly, now that we have a ghoul, and given your intended backstory Kathyan, maybe Danial and Alice having known each other in life (Perhaps serving the same lord under different knights) could be interesting. i don't think we're necessarily barred from our characters knowing each other previously (maybe they didn't know the other died and only found out during the game). but i dunno, thats just my two cents.

[wander]

Kath's gal certain has String backstories that resonate with Daniel, being a Ghost.

Either one would suit me just fine.  :-)

[Kathyan]

Kath's gal certain has String backstories that resonate with Daniel, being a Ghost.

Either one would suit me just fine.  :-)

Yeah I was thinking the same but to go through each one of you who have posted your tentative strings:

Isador: I'm also open to to Alice fancying Artimisia just so you know (It might be because she reminds her what love is) ^^

Wander: either or both your options sounds good to me, they might have known before they died, question is who died first, so who knows the other is dead?, or should we both know about each other.

GamesWithDragon (or GwD): I'm up for either your first or third option, bending the first one as necessary perhaps they didn't met personally but they could have seen each other while working for the lord under different knights. With this on mind I find here a candidate for either of my backstory options.

[wander]

Million dollar question there. I'd like to have two different characters on my two String options, so if you have a preference or you wanna wait and see who else may show interest in mine, that'd be cool.

I figure I could go for Fantastic Bard's Infernal string about someone trying to save them. Daniel's a Helpful Spirit, as much as a voyeur he is. ^^;

[Kathyan]

That's fine, I'd like to have option with different chacters as well.
And I didn't saw Bard's string options, just checked them on the book ^^ Yeah I guess Mika is free to owe something to Alice but I really doubt Alice would think she can save her.

About Daniel maybe he saw Alice die thus they both gain 2 string on each other, you are still free to decide if you want Alice to know he died too and how.

I'm not sure about my second option, can I choose that with several characters?, if so maybe Gilliam saw how Alice was brought back to life then.

[GamesWithDragon]

Naw, these backstory bits can only be used on one player. Also it could be easier for me to use "Thinks your a dangerous fanatic" since Gilliam has no qualms killing people if he believes they are being cruel to nature. Over fishing, deforestation, dumping refuse in the wild, ect. So people could think him rather crazy had they seen him doing something like that, such as slightly before they met proper....But i dunno, i'm always really bad at making backstory shit like this x.x so feel free to toss more ideas.

[Kathyan]

You are a dangerous fanatic for killing people who are cruel to nature?, try eating their flesh ^^

Ok good to know these can only be used on one character, but she could still be your former ally or working against you, what do you say?

[GamesWithDragon]

sweats profusely

Alright, i guess i'll go with "Once an ally of your cause" towards Alice, and then y'all can figure out who your gonna put your own strings on. Though i imagine she would have probably been less violent about it then Gilliam is, since i'm building him towards Volatile as his main stat. Angry fishman is angry :P