[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

[ThatFantasticBard]

Jeeze, there sure has been a lot of character building going on while I was away! Alice's backstory actually gave me an idea for mine. I was thinking maybe Mika accidentally ended up getting Alice killed and, feeling guilty, made a deal with a demon to bring her back? That would also give a good reason for Alice to have a string on her. Or would that be against the rules of not really knowing each other? It was probably a pretty brief interaction, just a quick soul damning incident and she left.

If Daniel wants to try and save Mika than go ahead, Wander. :P

GamesWithDragon, I was thinking maybe The Tyrant could've had Mika try and corrupt the forest or something and Gilliam found out? However, Mika felt guilty about the whole ordeal and could be indebted to him. So that'd be three strings on her.

[isador]

Hmm, decisions! It's so difficult picking just one person for that backstory option. I guess I could always just flip a coin between Alice & Daniel, if you guys are okay with that.

[wander]

I'll let Alice have that one of yours, isador. It seems Kath liked the idea of it.

I mean, I do too, though maybe that can develop in-game for Daniel instead.  ;D

[isador]

Alright, that settles it! Atimisia gets 2 strings on Alice. I'll put it on the tracker.

[wander]

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 probably going to go with for Daniel's strings that Alice knows that he is dead and how he died. It may be they died at the same locale, if you wanted to further the narrative link and get that String of yours filled out too.

That leaves me needing to have been in someone's bedroom and watched them sleep... I'm veering toward either Mika or Artimisia for that one now (as Alice took the above), so who wants to let Daniel have 1 String on them? ^^



Also, FantasticBard, who are you giving the Strings to for your first Infernal related strings? I read your post as all 3 to GwD, though I'm unsure.

[isador]

@TheFantasticBard, if you need more strings to hand out for your backstory, feel free to pitch ideas of how to get Artimisia involved.

[GamesWithDragon]

You only get to pick one or the other Wander. So someone can either know how you died, or you've been a peeper.

[Kathyan]

You only get to pick one or the other Wander. So someone can either know how you died, or you've been a peeper.

Is that so?

[GamesWithDragon]

You know what, nevermind i'm just very stupid, disregard what i said about that cuz apparently i can't read when its important XD

[Kathyan]

You know what, nevermind i'm just very stupid, disregard what i said about that cuz apparently i can't read when its important XD

Lol ok I'll just ask you unimportant things then ^^


Ok so this is what I was able to get for Alice's strings:

• She knows Daniel is dead and how he died, so I guess while they died in the same place he died first, so she gains a string on him. He might also know she is dead but that wouldn't grant him a string unless he saw her die or coming back to life.
• Gilliam and Alice were former allies, she gets 2 string on him
• Mika accidentally caused Alice's death so she owns her a favor (probably the same with Daniel since they died together) and she also saw her being brought back to life, that give Alice a string over Mika and also 2 strings on each.
• Artimisia is fancied by Alice so Artimisia gets two string on Alice while Alice gets one string on her because she is a Fae.
• And I still have "Someone to remind me what love is" open.

[isador]

Remember, everyone also gets a string on Artimisia.

[ThatFantasticBard]

Actually, two of those strings came from his backstory, Wander. In regards to debts Mika owes, it's one to Gilliam, if Games is okay with that, one to Alice and one to Daniel, since they died together. Im totally fine with Daniel creeping on Mika though.

[Kippers]

Alright, just as a recap, here's the backstory strings I saw hinted at. If this is correct, we can update the string tracker.

Gillian - Creature - GamesWithDragon
Mika - Debt
Mika - Working Against Cause
Mika - Working Against Cause
Artimisia - Heart on Sleeve

Daniel - Ghost - wander
Mika - Debt
Mika - Saw Sleeping
Gillian - Dangerous Fanatic
Artimisia - Heart on Sleeve

Mika - Infernal - ThatFantasticBard
Daniel - Thinks He Can Save You
Alice - Saw Her Die
Alice - Saw Her Die
Artimisia - Heart on Sleeve

Artimisia of Vincar - Fae - isador
Alice - Reminded of What Love Was
Alice - Reminded of What Love Was
Alice - Captured Fancy
Alice - Captured Fancy

Alice - Ghoul - Kathyan 
Mika - Debt
Mika - Watched You Die
Mika - Watched You Die
Daniel - Knows How He Died
Gillian - Once Ally To Cause
Gillian - Once Ally To Cause
Artimisia - Heart on Sleeve

Assuming this is correct! Currently...
Alice has the most strings on Gillian
[Mika|Alice] has the most strings on Daniel (Giving credit to Mika)
[Gillian|Alice] has the most strings on Mika (Giving credit to Gillian)
Everyone has the most strings on Artimisia lol (Giving credit to Daniel)
Artimisia has the most strings on Alice

If you've got the most strings on a person, you get to choose which stat gives them experience when they roll it. I get to pick one too, but it's after you all go.

I'm pretty relaxed on the "know each other thing." I just didn't want anyone to be besties, neighbors, related through blood, "oh I see him around", etc. You guys did good! Based on this conjecture, I like the idea of Gillian's species getting wiped out in the last major inter-kingdom conflict. Maybe Alice and Daniel were fighting on a pro-fishmen side, Mika was on an anti-fishmen side and got those two killed, and Artimisia was... oddly absent in battle, despite her duelist reputation, thus causing the doubtful rumors about her fighting ability.

At any rate! Tell me any corrections, pick a stat you want the person to gain EXP for and say why, and Sunday-Mondayish we should be able to start.

Note: Even if we make corrections to the backstory strings, I'll probably keep the same who-assigns-exp-stat-to-whom order, since this is pretty balanced.

[GamesWithDragon]

A quick FYI, i've changed my cause to "Save his race from extinction." too tie a bit more into my origin and cuz he was gonna be basically a Deep One which i might've slightly forgotten.

And i guess the Debt to Gilliam could be because she feels guilty about his race being wiped out? If we wanna use Kippers idea.

[isador]

I'll say Alice's exp stat will be Hot. She owes Artimisia loads of strings, which I presume means Alice feels more strongly about Artimisia than any other character, and I'd like to see her try and pursue that.

[Kippers]

I made a quick correction to the Resources links. Turns out one of them was labelled "Monster Hearts 1" when it was for the sequel.

For Alice's second exp-generating stat, I choose cold, because she has a lot of leverage on people right out of the gate. Would be neat to see how she maintains it. Also seems to fit. She died being dutiful to her king and knight, and they brought her back just to put her through more? Seems like it would put a little frost in the soul, to say the least.

[wander]

I didn't agree to the Dangerous Fanatic with Gilliam and it makes little sense for my character. I least don't want to play him as that.

I had the once an ally pair, though then GwD changed that one onto Alice...

[Kippers]

Alright, updated recap then:

Gillian
< Thinks You Are a Dangerous Fanatic
Mika - Debt
Mika - Working Against Cause
Mika - Working Against Cause
Artimisia - Heart on Sleeve

Daniel
Mika - Debt
Mika - Saw Sleeping
Artimisia - Heart on Sleeve

Mika
Daniel - Thinks He Can Save You
Alice - Saw Her Die
Alice - Saw Her Die
Artimisia - Heart on Sleeve

Artimisia of Vincar
Alice - Reminded of What Love Was
Alice - Reminded of What Love Was
Alice - Captured Fancy
Alice - Captured Fancy

Alice
Mika - Debt
Mika - Watched You Die
Mika - Watched You Die
Daniel - Knows How He Died
Gillian - Once Ally To Cause
Gillian - Once Ally To Cause
Artimisia - Heart on Sleeve

One confirmed unassigned string. Anyone want to think he's a dangerous fanatic?

[Kathyan]

I'm cool with how the strings turned out but if you wander likes and everyone is ok I could change the old allies with him and instead take believing he Gilliam is a dangerous fanatic.

And I choose hot for Artimisia as well, after all it was her who made Alice remember what love was and that has to be hot ^^

[isador]

If it's okay with everyone take Dangerous Fanatic on Gilliam for Artimisia then. She's aware of what he's trying to accomplish, even if she's not sure/aware of his nature, and believes he may start off another war as a result of his career in terrorism/ needs to stop before he draws too much attention and blows the lid on what he is, cause that would put scrutiny on everyone around him.

scratch that, i was just notified Gilliam only gets 1 of those and I don't want to push other people out.

[ThatFantasticBard]

I'm fine with that, GWD. Coulda ruined the lake for The Tyrant, I guess????

For Daniel, I choose Dark as his XP stat, 'cause it could lead to some potential demon fun.

[GamesWithDragon]

Mmm, sure. @Kathyan and Bard. (Talked about it with Isador he doesn't mind letting you have that string instead.)

I believe i will pick Cold as the XP stat for Mika, i imagine being a bartered soul could make one rather cynical.

Falls back on desk due to migrane going on atm

[Kippers]

Aww, get well soon Games. Here's the chart again:

Gillian
Mika - Debt
Mika - Working Against Cause
Mika - Working Against Cause
Artimisia - Heart on Sleeve

Daniel
Mika - Debt
Mika - Saw Sleeping
Artimisia - Heart on Sleeve
Gillian - Once Ally To Cause
Gillian - Once Ally To Cause

Mika
Daniel - Thinks He Can Save You
Alice - Saw Her Die
Alice - Saw Her Die
Artimisia - Heart on Sleeve

Artimisia of Vincar
Alice - Reminded of What Love Was
Alice - Reminded of What Love Was
Alice - Captured Fancy
Alice - Captured Fancy

Alice
Gillian - Dangerous Fanatic!
Mika - Debt
Mika - Watched You Die
Mika - Watched You Die
Daniel - Knows How He Died
Artimisia - Heart on Sleeve

For Daniel, I choose Hot as his second stat. Poor guy gets a debuff to being hot, but hopefully he'll still try and grow from it.
For Artimisia, I choose Volatile. Despite her reputation, she's still a world famous duelist, so she'd best be practicing sometime.
For Mika, I choose Dark. Not only due to demon shenanigans, but the weight of having watched people die and feeling guilty about it. Looks like an interesting theme.

[wander]

Do I need to pick anyone's XP stat?

[Kippers]

There was a small mixup, so you can pick Gillian's, if you don't mind.

[wander]

Let's say Volatile for Gillian, as it's their highest stat and GwD likely put it up there for a reason.  :-)

That everything now?  :-)

[Kippers]

Yep, looks like it. : D Thanks

I'm putting in Hot for Gillian because he's the last of his kind and trying to save his race from extinction, so it seems like he'll need it.

I'm going to go work on setting up the OOC thread and first scene. Will be back shortly with links.

[Kippers]

Well, it's still Monday somewhere!

OOC thread -> https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=270267.msg13321830#msg13321830
First IC thread -> https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=270269.0

Thanks for joining up, guys : )