Monsterhearts: Friday, 5 July 2013, 9am-1pm

Friday, 5 July 13, 9am-1pm: Monsterhearts

• John Farish -- GM
• Me -- Vampire -- Marcel Lebeau. +1 Hot, +2 Cold, -1 Volatile, -1 Dark
• Josh -- Ghost -- Erin Plaster. -1 Hot, +1 Cold, -1 Volatile, +2 Dark, very pale, plat blond hair, almost white, not quite right . You fade a little when you're dead. She had unnerving white eyes, delicately ???. She was popular when alive.
• Ami Silberman -- Fae -- Artemesia Oxalis. +2 Hot, -1 Cold, -1 Volatile, +1 Dark, poor, mesmerizing eyes, slight??? body.

My notes about the town say "Sequim -) Swim". I've no idea what that means. The school was Swarchfir High School. Its mascot was a sea otter. The town was just across the river from Canada. There were woods, of course; after all, we had a fae student.

Homeroom Layout

Richy Owens-Alice May-Marcy Fleach
Empty-Cassidy Williams-Victor Henricksen-Jason Wyatt
Judy Reeves-Brad Chtlres???-Daniel Elkins-Marcel Lebeau
Karen Singer-empty-Cathy whoisdead-Kim Moss
Artemesia Oxalis-Anna Milton-Bobby Singer-Erin Plaster

Strings:

• Artemesia caught Bobby Singer's fancy and has 2 strings on him.
• Artemesia knows how Erin died and has 1 string on Erin.
• Artemesia saw Marcel sleeping.

Various questions and decisions:

Erin did the ghostly hitchhiker story, but that got boring after a while, so she decided to go to high school again.

Erin: Cuz maybe this time, I'll get to prom

Homeroom was taught by Mr. Laplante, who mumbled as if talking to himself or a vidcam training program.

The students were seniors.

Marcel: Whom did you feed o most recently? Bobby Singer. Marcel hypnotized him.

Erin: Whose family moved into your house? The Singers. Bobby and Karen are step-siblings of a blended family -- that's why they had to move into Erin's house.

_Someone_ in the classroom is a descendent of the driver who killed Erin. Erin drove -- who was in the other car?

What did Cassidy promise Artemisia? Tickets to see the band Foetis.

Who was the last person Marcel slept with? (I rolled the dice to answer that one.) Daniel Elkins. He's a not so popular kid because people think he's a snitch.

Who's the real snitch? Judy Reeves.

Artemesia: How did Kim die and why is she still in class? She was mauled by a bear. She always wears turtlenecks.

Do Erin and Marcel know she's not normal? I think so.

The land of the dead was like the realm of the dead in Corpse Bride. Erin slept there. Kim was not yet aware of the place. The entrance into the Land of the Dead was through the crematorium. People led by ghosts can get there. Anyone else _can_ get there. Getting back -- there's the rub -- pace Vergil.

Who's bee giving Marcel shit lately? Marcy Fleach

Erin: Why does Sam Campbell keep staring at you? Erin looks unnervingly like the photo of his grandmother in his house. She was Erin's twin.

Artemesia: Who asked you to prom that you haven't yet answered? Daniel Elkins.

Moving into the game proper:

Is anyone late to homeroom?

• Marcel: No, that stands out.
• Erin: I was always here.
• Artemesia: Late.
• Kim: Late?

Teacher: Artemesia, any reason you're late?

Artemesia: My Dad's truck broke down.

Teacher: Third time this month.

Artemesia: It's a crappy truck.

Daniel passed Artemesia a note: Have you decided about the prom yet?

There was a pep rally scheduled for the next day. Brad was the captain of the football team. He had no steady girlfriend, and the most popular girl was dead.

Teacher: In light of the recent tragedy...

Bobby pitched a book at Daniel's head. Anna tried to read Artemesia's note.

Erin tried to shut Bobby down. This was a partial success, so each got a Condition.

• Erin: Center of Attention
• Bobby: Brat

Erin: I _did_ the homework.

Teacher: Oh -- then why are you waving the book around?

Erin: Oh, it's Bobby's book -- he dropped it.

Bobby: Thanks.

Erin: Oh, no problem -- any time!

Anne (to Artemesia): If you go to dance with Daniel -- you realize nobody's going to talk to you.

Artemesia: Oh, like they talk to me anyway... Oh, I guess you may be right.

My notes say something about Sam rather doing something, possibly talking to Artemesia, than to the Weird Girl, presumably Erin.

At this point, Josh noted that Cathy, a dead student, was in the land of the dead, and not happy about it. So, Erin had been dead for years. Cathy was dead recently, and I think everyone, including Cathy, knew that, and that she wasn't in class. Kim was dead, and most folks, including her, didn't know that.

Actually, it might have been Erin talking about Cathy being in the land of the dead and hinting at how Cathy got there. She talked to Marcel and Cassidy.

Erin: OH, it wasn't an animal -- it was an accident. But, accidents have faults! It was somebody's -fault- when they cause it to happen.

And Josh used the ghost's power to blame people for her own death, regardless of the truth of the situation. That is, both Marcel and Cassidy now had the condition Blamed.

Erin: It's _Your_ Fault!

She also gave Bobby a piece of his mind for throwing the book at Daniel. Bobby protested that Daniel was a snitch.

Erin: That does't mean he deserves to get a -concussion- and -die-!!

Bobby: It's a book! It wasn't going to -kill- him.

Erin: It was a -hardcover-!

Josh rolled 5 for Erin (perhaps not consciously) to turn Bobby on. This was a failure. Bobby went to talk to Artemesia.

Bobby: Do you have homecoming plans?

Artemesia: Yeah, I do, actually.

Bobby: I'm sorry to hear that.

Artemesia: There _are_ other events.

Bobby: I'll remember that. Who are you going with?

Artemesia: I'm going with Daniel.

Bobby: Really?

Artemesia: He's a nice guy. Quiet.

Artemesia said that she was really into gardening, I think.

Much of this game turned out to be an unfolding of the past. That is, relationships and important details were created throughout the session. Around here is where we decided that Cathy's death and Artemesia saving Marcel's life happened the same day, which my notes refer to as both the Summer Solstice and August. It's possible I meant Lammas Night, but I forget.

Why did Artemesia's mother try to kill Marcel? Marcel was feeding on Bobby in the woods. The mother, a fire elemental, happened to be visiting her daughter and her non-fae husband. She normally lived wherever fae fire elementals live, but she did visit occasionally.

After Artemesia stopped her mother from killing Marcel, the mother was in a foul mood. She unleashed her rage on Cathy, who made the mistake of carving initials on a tree later that night, I think the same tree Marcel and Bobby were leaning against.

Me: Which means that [Erin] is right and it is all my fault.

Josh: So, your mother murdered Cathy?

Ami: Basically.

Someone, I'm guessing Erin, had to roll to Hold Steady against Cassidy/

Erin: I assume you called me out for -some- reason...

Cassidy: You have a car?

Erin: Sure -- how do you think I got here from the land of the dead?

At least, I'm guessing that's the correct attribution. If so, it means Erin told Cassidy about her status. This is the trouble with not doing write ups immediately after the game.

Bobby went after Daniel. Someone wound up with a black eye. You'd think my notes would be clear on whom, but it might have been Bobby, as Artemesia Shut him Down, putting the Condition Shaken on him. So, he now was Shaken and a Brat. Artemesia then tried to manipulate him. I think the dialogue went like this:

Bobby: You just hit me!

Artemesia: I think you should behave a lot better to _everyone_ and stop being so judgmental!

My notes say: 5 -> 7 + 3 (string) -> 10

I think this means that the player rolled a 5, and had a +2 in the relevant stat, then burned a string to get +3 to manipulate an NPC.

Bobby apologized and slunk off, leaving Artemesia and Daniel. Daniel asked about clothing coordination for the dance.

Artemesia: I'll probably be wearing purple.

She kissed him to Turn him On. One of them, I think Artemeisa, said: "I promise we'll have a Great Time."

Table consensus: Cuz that couldn't possibly go horribly wrong.

The Fae, you see, is all about the Promise -- getting promises, making them, making sure they are kept, and punishing those who break them.

Meanwhile, the ghost's move of Unresolved Trauma kicked in as Erin drove Karen Singer home -- to the home which used to be Erin's, as you'll recall.

Unresolved Trauma meant replaying the events of Erin's death. This meant that there had to be another car. Well, the person Erin almost killed that night long ago was her own twin sister. Therefore, Sam was in the other car.

Erin's car went into a tailspin and hit the other car. Both Sam and Karen felt the pain of impact and then -- Erin and Karen were driving on the road and there was no one else there.

Karen and Sam now both had the "Blamed" condition. Karen was weeping. Erin was silent during the drive.

Erin (on arrival at Karen's home): Are you okay? Did I drive all right?

I think this was translated as a Shut Down attempt, i.e., to stop Karen from asking about what happened. Whatever the situation, it resulted in both girls getting a Condition. Erin was now Hot and Bothered. Karen was Vulnerable. They went to Karen's room, which, of course, had been Erin's old bedroom.

Erin: Wanna know a secret?

Karen: I love secrets.

Erin: I used to live here. I grew up here, then moved away. This used to be my old bedroom.

Karen: So this must be weird for you.

Erin: No, it's okay.

Karen: So we're sharing a bedroom.

There was an attempt to Turn Someone On, with Erin's Hot and Bothered condition being relevant here, but whoever was the target was not turned on.

Erin: Karen -- What you saw -- it didn't happen -- it was _not_ your fault.

And with that, Karen lost the Blamed condition while Erin gained experience. Some of the Monsterheart skins are designed to be experience-generating machines, and Josh is very good at figuring out how to make those work. But, as he is also aware, they work best when they also work on the narrative level.

I see that there was a sex move at this point, so I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Erin and Karen had sex. This meant that each could ask the other a question. This is also an opportunity to inject more backstory into the game.

Erin: Why have you never wondered about where your father wet?

Karen: Because I know he never loved me.

Karen: How did you know all about that dream I had?

Erin: Because that's what happened to me.

Erin stayed the night and decided to Gaze Into the Abyss, having visions. But, a 7 was only a partial success, so the visions were Vague and Alarming. She wanted to investigate the secret mystical connection between Karen and her step-sibling Bobby.

Karen's father didn't come back because he was dead. Erin had seen him in the land of the dead. He hadn't yet put it together (that he was dead, I think). Karen's mother sacrificed the father to something. Erin saw a vision of the mother cutting pieces off of her own husband.

Erin woke screaming; Karen was there to comfort her.

My notes say that the next day, "Artemesia happens to know about that conversation". I don't think that this was the conversation between Erin and Karen, but between Cassidy and someone else, as Cassidy decided to break her promise to Artemesia and give her spare ticket to someone else.

Cassidy and Artemesia went prom dress shopping. Artemesia mentioned how excited she was about the concert. Cassidy lied and said she wasn't able to get the tickets.

Artemesia bought herself a ticket. Her plan was to show up at the concert, ambush Cassidy, and guilt Cassidy into buying Artemesia a prom dress.

The next scene was the concert. Attending were:

• Erin and Karen
• Marcel and Cassidy
• Artemesia
• Bobby
• Daniel

Someone, possibly Artemesia: Yeah -- let's go powder our noses.

If this was Artemesia, she was probably talking to Cassidy, whom she then tried to manipulate. She had a total of 9. But, Cassidy still had the Blamed Condition, which definitely applied here, so that brought the total up to 10, a full success.

Erin talked to Marcel.

Erin: You're weird. And you don't belong here. But my problems aren't your problems It's not your fault.

And Marcel lost the Blamed Condition, while Erin got experience. I think Daniel and Marcel had the awkward conversation around now about where they stood with each other. They'd had sex, but both were currently visibly with someone else, Daniel with Artemesia and Marcel with Cassidy. The conversation was inconclusive.

Artemesia arranged to meet Daniel the next morning at her place.

I think the next scene took place at school the next day.

Karen (probably to Erin): Bobby talks about Artemesia all the time. He won't shut up about her.

Erin: She's odd -- but so are a lot of people.

Karen (agreeing): Kim used to be way cooler.

Artemesia (not sure if it was about Kim or Cathy): My stupid mother killed her.

Table Consensus: The biggest threats in the game are Roads and Mothers.

Karen: What do you -mean- your mom is killing people?

And shortly thereafter:

Karen: And how are you talking to her if she's dead?

Erin: Oh, I'm so sorry. There's someone you need to meet.

Kim: Seriously -- why is your mom -killing- people?

Artemesia explained as best she could, I think saying something along the lines that her mother got angry.

Erin: That's not a good reason.

Artemesia: That's not a good reason -- it -is- the reason.

Erin (I think):-Most- moms have a temper but aren't killing people. You need to talk to someone.

Erin led people into the land of the dead, and Josh announced that, in that land, Erin drove a taxi. She took Artemesia to meet Cathy.

Artemesia: Cathy, I'm really sorry that my mom killed you.

Cathy: That bitch!

Artemesia: Yeah, stupid mother.

Cathy: What the f*ck?

Artemesia: You caught her on a bad day.

Cathy: Having a bad day does NOT mean staking someone in the back with a tree branch!

Artemesia: It is if you're my mother -- besides, most of the people she knows get better.

Cathy: So it was a practical -joke-??

Cathy now had a string on Erin, though I forget why.

Erin: Karen -- now it's time for you to meet someone.

And right before Karen could learn what was going on from her dead father, we cut the scene and cut to

THE PROM

Couples included:

• Artemesia and Daniel
• Marcel and Cassidy
• Erin and Karen

Karen was now avoiding home as much as she could. You know how sometimes, someone will crash at a friend's house? Well, Karen was doing that, sort of. She was crashing in the land of the dead. She knew no one would hurt her there.

Daniel wanted a promise from Artemesia that they would go steady. My notes about how that went are completely mysterious to me, but I don't think a promise was given on this one.

Some students made nasty comments about Karen and Erin.

Marcel (deliberately audibly): -I- think they make a cute couple.

My notes say "(5)". This may mean he was trying to Shut Down the nasty comments. If so, he didn't succeed.

Marcy: Well, -you- would.

I'd been wondering what Marcy's beef with Marcel was. This may be an indication.

Cassidy and Artemesia made up. Cathy came back from the land of the dead, though only the supernatural folks and Karen could see her -- and Bobby could see her as well.

Daniel came over to Marcel and praised him for speaking up for Erin and Karen. Both admitted that they felt kind of maneuvered into the dates they had, and they kissed publicly. (*)

(*) How Daniel felt maneuvered when he was the one asking Artemesia to the prom and not the other way around is something that didn't occur to me at the time, but which is, nevertheless, an interesting question.

Artemesia kicked Marcel.

Artemesia; I should have let my stupid mother kill you.

Meanwhile, Bobby, who I think had the Condition Blamed at that point, stabbed Karen.

Someone, possibly me: In the middle of the Prom. There's consequences.

Artemesia: For some people, yes.

Me (as Marcel didn't know this): He didn't make any promises to you.

Artemesia: He promised to go with me to the dance. I think that includes not snogging someone else.

My notes say, "Does it? Lose String."

Erin was furious.

Erin: When you hurt someone, it's -your fault-!

And Bobby flew across room, taking 2 harm. As he'd taken 2 harm earlier, this killed him. What killed him? Why, a car that materialized from nowhere, smashed into him, and the vanished.

Someone, possibly Erin: Even in death -- he has some kind of hold over me.

I'm not sure what that meant. But I do remember the last little creepy bit we all agreed was the right closing note.

Karen bit a chunk out of Bobby. She was now a ghoul.

-- -- --

I'm sorry the write up is fairly incoherent. It was a good game, in its way the best of the five games of Monsterhearts I'm looking at. This session started slow, with all of us feeling our way, but as more and more was revealed to all of us during play, things moved faster and built to a wonderfully horrific climax that we agreed felt like a first season closer.