Monsterhearts

[WickedCadrach]

That's a good idea. Thanks!

Looks like the links were duplicated in your post, so here are the skins:
https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/reference-sheets-and-core-skins1.pdf

[IsabellaRose]

Thanks! See what happens when you're trying to post fast before a meeting!

[roll to seduce]

https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/monsterhearts-2-small-towns1.pdf

Found the link.

[WritesNaughtyStories]

I will, id there are no objections, take the Hollow, who has been kept in the empty house, overlooking the sea. When I creep out of the basement workshop where I was made and stare out across the glittering sea, dreaming - of what belonging? not being? dreaming of what it means to have dreams? - who do I watch as they walk the beach?

Who saw me sneaking out of the place where no one lives, devoid of furniture, and looked back, up the road, lit in the too long, lingering golden-orange glow of evening, to the ever empty house, when I told them my parents had go to Greece on business?

Hot +1
Cold -1
Volatile -1
Dark +2

I will definitely take Better than nothing. I'm undecided about my second move.

I don't know if Dylan is male or female. I'd like some community input here, does Dylan know? The were made as a toy, that they do know. Is their gender actually a fluid thing, driven by what others want? Or simply by what they choose to wear? Do they exist in some space between boy and girl.

[roll to seduce]

We could leave gender in limbo until pants come off.

Playland is the main scene for our story. Imagine everything that might be on one of the seaside fairs, where does Dylan normally hang out?

[Chiyako]

Where do we intend to put character sheets? In here?

Edit: Also I think I'm going to go with Witch.

Edited Friday at 07:12 PM by Chiyako

[WickedCadrach]

12 minutes ago, Chiyako said:

Where do we intend to put character sheets? In here?

They're brief enough that it should be ok to drop them in here while we're hashing things out. If we end up with a different thread to keep it neat, we can always copy them over. 

 

1 hour ago, WritesNaughtyStories said:

I don't know if Dylan is male or female. I'd like some community input here, does Dylan know? The were made as a toy, that they do know. Is their gender actually a fluid thing, driven by what others want? Or simply by what they choose to wear? Do they exist in some space between boy and girl.

My first thought is that Dylan may be agender, but they feel the pressure to 'pick a lane' (particularly because they are Hollow) so they are very susceptible to prodding and other's perceptions. It resonates with the toy/doll backstory that they might simply think everyone is playing dress-up when it comes to gender since they don't feel a compelling pull to any point on a spectrum (a feeling they have to come to terms with). 

As for 'what's in their pants', you might not even need to have that figured out at the start. Ambiguous or intersex is valid, but I don't think it's essential for what it seems to me like you're trying to explore here. 

[roll to seduce]

I'll probably make a second thread for characters, mostly so I can quickly reference harm, conditions, strings, and advancements. Also could be a good place to keep track of side characters.

But it's a good idea to have talked a bit about our characters before we post complete playbooks.

[WickedCadrach]

If there's no protest, I'll go with the Mortal. 

Here's what I'm thinking: 

Robin Graham is the new kid in town. She is quiet, modest, and has the sad eyes of someone who has lost something. Her wrist-length sleeves and long skirts stand out in the summer beach-town, and when she does speak, her soft midwestern accent pairs with her appearance to make it clear (if only to her) that she does not belong here. 

She works at the concession stand at the Playland amusement park, handing out corndogs and bags of popcorn. The word is that she moved to Potter's Neck at the start of summer with only a backpack and a small carboard box, and she and her mom are staying with her aunt (a local) in one of the cheap, southside apartments. 

- Who stops by Robin's stand so often that she knows their order by heart (even if she doesn't really know them)?

- Who knows that the bicycle she rides to work at Playland every day broke its chain more than a week ago or that she hasn't had it fixed or replaced?

2 hours ago, WritesNaughtyStories said:

Who saw me sneaking out of the place where no one lives, devoid of furniture, and looked back, up the road, lit in the too long, lingering golden-orange glow of evening, to the ever empty house, when I told them my parents had go to Greece on business?

I think maybe Robin did? She's too hesitant to call them out on it, but she would notice and be troubled. Maybe troubled enough to come back... just to make sure she really saw what she saw.

[WritesNaughtyStories]

40 minutes ago, WickedCadrach said:

I think maybe Robin did? She's too hesitant to call them out on it, but she would notice and be troubled. Maybe troubled enough to come back... just to make sure she really saw what she saw.

Take two strings on Dylan.

 

1 hour ago, WickedCadrach said:

It resonates with the toy/doll backstory that they might simply think everyone is playing dress-up when it comes to gender since they don't feel a compelling pull to any point on a spectrum (a feeling they have to come to terms with).

I particularly like the way you distilled this. Dylan was made for another's enjoyment - they reflect what's desired of them, but in a world of boys and girls, being both and neither doesn't feel like a choice they can make.

2 hours ago, roll to seduce said:

Playland is the main scene for our story. Imagine everything that might be on one of the seaside fairs, where does Dylan normally hang out?

Dylan slinks along the edges of the midway, near the Corn Dog stand, and more importantly to Dylan, the photo booth, They collect all the forgotten and discarded photos and keep them in a Marlboro Red box. Except for two older people. They're her "parents".

Dylan has never had a corn dog, but they saw that bike chain.

[Chiyako]

Name: Selene Lefaye
Skin: Witch
Look: Lithe
Eyes: Deep
Origin: Avid Reader

Selene is a girl often concerned about her appearances, if only because she believes they might be part of why people don't want to be friends with her. Part of it stems from her being shorter than others her age, and less developed in ways which make her self-conscious. However because putting too much work into her appearances would get in the way of other things she enjoys (mostly reading), she prefers to take shortcuts to make herself appear older (primarily through the use of bras and tops which make her appear more pronounced, and shoes or boots with either heels, lifts, or the like). While she does own a proper witch's hat she tends not to wear it in public, instead only doing so during rituals.

Hot: +1
Cold: -1
Volatile: -1
Dark: +2

Witch Moves:
Sympathetic Tokens
You gain power from Sympathetic Tokens - items of personal significance taken from others. Sympathetic Tokens count as Strings.

Hex-Casting
You can cast Hexes. Choose two that you know. To cast them, either expend a Sympathetic Token during a secret ritual, or meet the target’s gaze and chant at them in tongues. Then roll with Dark. On a 10 up, the Hex works, and can easily be reversed. On a 7-9, it works but choose one:

• The casting does you 1 Harm;
• The Hex has weird side effects;
• Trigger your Darkest Self.

Hexes:
Binding
The person cannot physically harm others.

Watching
You enter a deep sleep, and begin to see the world through the eyes of the hexed. You can feel their reactions to and impressions of what they are seeing.

Darkest Self:
The time for subtlety and patience is over. You’re too powerful to put up with their garbage any longer. You hex anyone who slights you. All of your hexes have unexpected side effects, and are more effective than you are comfortable with. To escape your Darkest Self, you must offer peace to the one you have hurt the most.

Sex Move:
After sex, you can take a Sympathetic Token from them. They know about it, and it’s cool.

A native to Potter's Neck, Selene would have started her first year at Bay Shore High as a freshman were it not for the unusually long summer. Considered somewhat weird and an outcast in middle school (perhaps because things often went missing around her, or perhaps because she always has her face buried in a book, or perhaps because she is socially a bit awkward and sometimes tries a bit too hard to be people's friend) she had been hoping to make new friends with a fresh start in her high school life. Hoping to gain at least some credibility as someone who isn't weird, and perhaps some friends, Selene applied for and managed to attain a job at the Baja Surf Stylings shop, only to then discover that it actually wasn't a very cool place to work. When things aren't busy she often occupies herself with reading books, one of her favorite past times beyond taking long walks across the pale-sanded beaches. Her home is pretty typical, albeit recently quiet with her parents away on vacation.

Selene enjoys structure and tends to keep to a set schedule, some parts of which are planned out months or even years in advance (although these parts often relate to her occult rituals). While she wants to appear normal enough to attain some friends Selene cannot help but to occasionally pilfer things that belong to other people when the opportunity presents itself. Part of this stems from her belief that it is important to do so as attainting said items helps her to protect other people (even if they don't want or don't need said protection). The part she doesn't want to admit to herself is that said items make her feel like she is closer to them (and would provide her the opportunity to at least spy on them, to confirm to herself that she is closer to them). She might also have slight kleptomaniac tendencies (something she definitely would never admit to, and something which has perhaps been developed through her study of the occult).

Recently her parents ended up separating. Selene stays with her father, mostly because he won the case against her mother. She still loves them both, although her mother is always worried about her. Her father says they separated because her mother blames him for something he isn't guilty of. Her mother says they separated because her father was acting inappropriately, although she didn't go much more into it. She still has a good relationship with both, especially her father who often spoils her, and while it does sadden her that they separated she doesn't typically show it, finding solace in her books and secret occult studies.

After a long walk along the sandy beaches Selene generally makes a habit of stopping by one specific concession stand within Playland. She always asks for a corndog with mustard and, if they have it, honey (they never do). Also a free cup of water.

Backstory:
You start the game with two Sympathetic Tokens. Decide whose and what they are.

One of the others caught you rummaging through their friend’s stuff, but hasn’t said anything. They get a String on you.


Selene Lefaye

Edited Saturday at 04:56 PM by Chiyako

[Chiyako]

3 hours ago, WritesNaughtyStories said:

When I creep out of the basement workshop where I was made and stare out across the glittering sea, dreaming - of what belonging? not being? dreaming of what it means to have dreams? - who do I watch as they walk the beach?

If you'd like you might have seen Selene. She enjoys taking long lonely walks on the beaches.

[WritesNaughtyStories]

28 minutes ago, Chiyako said:

If you'd like you might have seen Selene. She enjoys taking long lonely walks on the beaches.

This will give me two strings on you - is that an okay place to start?

[Chiyako]

11 minutes ago, WritesNaughtyStories said:

This will give me two strings on you - is that an okay place to start?

Yep! That's fine!

[WickedCadrach]

So I'm thinking about what sort of high-school crisis my Mortal could carry into the opening (obviously there will be more crises and confusion that emerge in gameplay), but would it be a 'red card' or line for anyone if Robin was processing/grieving some religious trauma?

Also ref pic (SFW)

Spoiler

 

[Chiyako]

2 minutes ago, WickedCadrach said:

So I'm thinking about what sort of high-school crisis my Mortal could carry into the opening (obviously there will be more crises and confusion that emerge in gameplay), but would it be a 'red card' or line for anyone if Robin was processing/grieving some religious trauma?

Also ref pic (SFW)

  Hide contents

 

I think that could be neat! Especially with having to also contend with the monsters and their existence.

[WritesNaughtyStories]

54 minutes ago, WickedCadrach said:

would it be a 'red card' or line for anyone if Robin was processing/grieving some religious trauma?

As a devout atheist, I completely support this.

Androgynous enough? Also SFW

Spoiler

 

[WickedCadrach]

26 minutes ago, WritesNaughtyStories said:

Androgynous enough? Also SFW

They read as physically androgynous in fem clothing to me (mostly because of the top). So if that's in the general area of what you're aiming for, then you got it.

Also, those eyes say they're going to be mean to me, but it's ok, because they're just hurting and maybe I can help them through whatever is making them lash out, except 'oh no', it turns out I'm enabling their bad behavior by being understanding without holding them accountable, and now they're using that to manipulate me, and before I know it I'm outside a gas station at one AM with no money because they took my wallet after I specifically asked them to stop stealing my things. 

So yeah... pretty, um, pretty good reference pic. For me.

[Chiyako]

Excited to see everyone's characters!

[DreamsnThings]

Im realizing there are allready a lot of people here for this one and i might be trying to shoehorn myself into too many places xD if im still welcome to join in i will, but let me know if there are too many folks here as is

[WickedCadrach]

2 minutes ago, DreamsnThings said:

Im realizing there are allready a lot of people here for this one and i might be trying to shoehorn myself into too many places xD if im still welcome to join in i will, but let me know if there are too many folks here as is

I don't think we're too crowded

MC: @roll to seduce
The Hollow: @WritesNaughtyStories
The Witch: @Chiyako
The Mortal: me!

I don't think I've missed anyone, and there's still plenty of unclaimed Skins (roles/classes) and niches to fit into the town's cast of teens. 

Relinking to Skins if you want to take a look  
https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/reference-sheets-and-core-skins1.pdf

[Chiyako]

13 minutes ago, DreamsnThings said:

Im realizing there are allready a lot of people here for this one and i might be trying to shoehorn myself into too many places xD if im still welcome to join in i will, but let me know if there are too many folks here as is

I did leave open Vampire for you since you seemed to express interest in it. If anything there are still a few spots open, and only three actual characters so far. Otherwise the other ones still open are: Fae, Ghost, Ghoul, Infernal, Queen, and Werewolf.

[DreamsnThings]

Im actually leaning to infernal or queen more based on the actual feature list...

Vampires move feels... unsatisfying based on what little i know about the system 

[DreamsnThings]

Im thinking infernal, i really like the deal with a devil kind of feel they bring...

Also kinda love how they can pass off debts to people they fuck xD

[DreamsnThings]

...whhhaaat exactly does the character creation process look like for this? im kinda just... not sure where to go from here...