Monsterhearts at 2014 Maelstrom
4 April 2014, 6pm: Monsterhearts
This was a game that went well enough, but had some interesting issues. I would have said that this was due to there being six players, which is a lot for Monsterhearts. But, I've been in Monsterhearts games with six that were amazing. And certainly, this had the feral element that was missing in a couple of the games I wrote up before.
- GM: James Mendez Hodes
- Morgan H: Vergil, aka Verge, the Werewolf (male)
- ???: Zane, the Infernal (male)
- Joshua Kronengold: Robin, the Mortal (female)
- ??? Mercy Williams, the Witch (female)
- Me: Morrigan Corbet, the Ghoul (female)
- ???: Seth, the serpentine
Folks went to a high school with dorms and a campus, Philips Academy in Hanover, Massachusetts.
In Vergil's Freshman year, he'd been a spindly computer nerd, into chess.
Vergil: But that's not -me- anymore.
Now, he was on the wrestling team. One of his parents, at least, lived on campus (and probably worked there?). So, the school was his home. He was thin and nondescript. He was also quite confident in the team, his pack.
Vergil: We're going all the way, man!
GM: Is that normal for the wrestling team, being a werewolf?
Vergil: It will be!
Wrestling, we agreed, was a coed sport at this school.
Seth was sleek and generally kept his hood up. He was socially awkward, trying too hard, or not at all. No one had seen him directly with family on campus.
The family Matriarch was Heset. She wanted Seth to choose a mate. At one point, he passed the GM a note that read: "Do I think the Matriarch would be please [sic] if I mated with both? Or is it better to choose?"
Zane had vicious, piercing eyes. He'd been chosen by his Infernal power, Antares.
Someone: So, when -you- wish on a star -- it answers
Robin was the new kid in town. She had awkward, doe eyes.
Mercy was guarded with calculating eyes. She was really, really rich, and was a legacy kid.
Mercy: Y'all are below me.
Morrigan had gaunt, hungry eyes. With the name I gave her, I figured that the Crow goddess had something to do with her coming back to life. Her stats were: Hot -1, Cold 1 (highlighted), Volatile 2, Dark -1
All ghouls have a Hunger. I'd seen Chaos done, and thought that might be too easy. I didn't want to do Flesh, so I decided to do Fear. Josh pointed out after the game that, if I were concerned with something being too easy, with a Mortal in the game, Fear was too easy. I think I thought Power would be too hard, but given how Mercy was played and that there was an Infernal in the game, I could probably have pulled that off.
Morgan's other moves (The Hunger being the first):
Disaffected: Roll with Cold to turn someone on, instead of Hot. Short Rest for the Wicked: Basically, Recovery from Death.
These may have been the wrong moves to take. Satiety may have been a better one, as it gives a benefit when one actually feeds one's Hunger, including, importantly, marking experience. Five experience marks lets one take another move, and I only got one during the entire game, a good sign I wasn't playing as well as I might. Josh said that the moves I took weren't bad; however, I certainly didn't use them well. I'm not sure if I ever used Disaffected.
If I did, I probably botched my roll to turn someone on. And, the thing about Short Rest for the Wicked is that if you're taking a Get Out of Death move, you should be getting your PC into very perilous situations and take big risks. Otherwise, there's little point to the move. I was taking it purely as a safety precaution. That's not an especially good way to play Monsterhearts. Oh, I can totally see someone taking it as a safety precaution in order to cut loose, but in that case, flaunt it! This is even more true if one uses the single free point one gets for stats to boost Volatile, as I did.
Strings / Backstories
Seth had 2 strings on Morrigan because he reminded her of what love was. Seth loved his family. Morrigan has 1 on Verge. (Everyone did. because the Werewolf and Fae both wear their hearts on their sleeves.) Robin saw Morrigan die or come back to life and had 2 strings on her. I don't know if we decided which. If we didn't, we should have. Morrigan started with 2 on Robin, and somewhere along the line, spent 1.
Mercy had 2 sympathetic tokens, which were the equivalent of strings. She took a book from Zane.
Morgan's Player: A creepy old astrological book that might have answers that I need.
She stole a jock strap from Verge.
Morgan: I stole your jock strap.
Verge: Consider it a gift, baby.
Verge wore his heart on his sleeve. Everyone had 1 string on him. My take on this, given how Morgan played him, is that Verge just wasn't that complicated a person. He wasn't a bleeding heart, just... uncomplicated.
Seth had 2 strings on whoever was cuing him about what humanity was. The player decided that Seth had imprinted on Vergil prior to the change to being a werewolf and joining the wrestling team. Seth was now very confused. It occurs to me that the game would have benefitted from Seth and Vergil having had a couple of scenes where they interacted with each other.
Zane had debts, which meant he had three strings to split between the Dark Powers and others. While I tend to assume that one should give the Dark Power at least one of these strings, it's not actually a requirement, and Zane's player assigned none to Antares. He divided them as follows:
- 1 to Mercy: Someone bothering Zane took a trip down the stairs, and twisted an ankle. Until that happened, that person was the track start.
- 1 to Robin: Zane promised he'd show Robin around.
- 1 to Seth: Seth saw something he shouldn't have seen and is keeping it secret. I don't think we ever defined that, but if we didn't, we should have.
Robin caught Mercy breaking into a locker that wasn't Mercy's, but hadn't said anything about it, so got a string on Mercy.
Verge had spent weeks watching Robin and had 2 Strings on her. Sadly, this was one of the things that fell completely by the wayside.
Seth's Matriarch had 2 strings on him. His family was older than settlers in new world. The old east coast was originally a swamp.
GM: How many were in your clutch? How many -survived-?
Seth's Player: Three.
I think that meant three survived, but it didn't come up in any relevant way.
Mercy thought she could save Zane, so she had a string on him.
As always, the Mortal backstory was created last. The Mortal's player picks a Lover, and Robin's Lover was Seth. He had 3 Strings on Robin. She had 1 on him.
We agreed that there would be no rape in the game, something I forgot until I reviewed my notes, as it never came up in play.
We decided to start the game in art class, not in homeroom. The art teacher was Mr. Rogers. He'd had his 15 minutes of fame years ago.
Morgan: He committed an act of Art 15 years ago. He's been in Art Purgatory ever since.
One of my index cards says about Mr. Rogers "...cares about the PRETTY students".
The students were arranged in a large circle, drawing or painting on easels. Mr. Rogers walked around the room to look at their work.
Mercy: OMG -- he makes it so difficult to text!
Rough map of the classroom:
Chad Morrigan Darwin Seth Model from Verge Mercy Outside Brittani Anthony Aoi Zane Drew Robin Heidi
Chad: The first friend Vergil had on the wrestling team.
Heidi: he exchange student from Germany.
Verge: I don't know what she's -saying-.
Mercy: You don't know what -anyone-'s saying.
Anthony: A jock on the LaCrosse team, the one who tumbled down the stairs and twisted an ankle.
Darwin: Very accident prone.
Aoi: A Stoner, female.
Drew: An art nerd, female.
There was a pep rally Friday night, Hanover vs Exeter football on Saturday, and a ball Sunday night, if I read my notes correctly.
Robin's Player: Am I dating you?
Seth's Player: I think you and I have different answers to that one.
Anthony was dating Brittani, and Chad was getting in on the action.
It was now Thursday, and art was the class before lunch. The students were drawing a 24 year old male model from Boston.
Heidi: Robin, do you have a date for the dance?
Robin: I'm hoping Seth will ask me -- he's looking right at me.
GM: Seth, who are you looking at?
Seth: Vergil.
Robin: I'm sure he was looking at me until a few moments ago.
Zane's painting was of the model overdosed on cocaine in a studio apartment.
Antares (whispering inside of Zane's head): Zane. Zane.
Zane: What?
Antares: This is Antares.
Zane: He says that every d*mn time.
Antares: I hunger for souls.
Zane: I -know-, Antares.
Antares: In particular, I hunger for Mercy's soul.
Somehow, at this point, Antares sounded more goofy than threatening, although by the end of the session, that had changed.
Mr. Rogers had reached Zane and found Zane's work inappropriate. He ripped up the drawing.
Mercy: Oh my God, Mr. Rogers! That is so rude!
Mr. Rogers gained the condition Embarrassed.
GM: His eyes unfocus from your neckline for a moment.
Heidi was watching Seth who was watching Vergil who was talking to Chad about someone new on the team.
I forget the context of this:
Seth: Sure, you can come with us.
Robin: Sure, that sounds great!
Robin's Player: I'll take an experience point!
The experience would be from one of the Mortal's several moves to make dysfunctional relationships even worse while gaining a mechanical advantage. I'm not sure if this dialogue took place before or after Heidi had made her move on Seth.
Someone: Zane is like a train wreck -- in the sense that he will -kill- them.
I think my notes say that Mr. Rogers had a mental image of a naked picture of Mercy on a pedestal.
Anthony said something nasty about someone, possibly Mercy, and she Shut Him Down, the player rolling somewhere in the 7-9 range. This meant each got a Condition.
- Anthony: Bully
- Mercy: Nerd
Someone: Being a nerd is a serious disability.
Mercy hexed Anthony with his painting, and got unexpected side effects. Instead of hallucinating about snakes, he saw actual snakes covering his shoes. Seth collected the snakes. My notes say "Pentecostal", which I think means someone, possibly Robin, suggested that Seth was able to handle snakes because he was a Pentecostal. Robin certainly noticed that the snakes were there because of Mercy.
Robin (perhaps to herself, silently): What is _Mercy_ that she could do that? Some kind of witch? I have to look into that.
Seth brought them out into the hall, I think. If so, Robin and Vergil, at the very least, followed him.
Seth (about the snakes): They probably wandered into the school.
Robin: No, they didn't! They were summoned!
GM (to Seth): The snakes mention to you that they want to leave now.
Verge wanted Seth to bring them to the meet.
Snakes (to Seth): We'll go if there are mice or rats.
Meanwhile, Seth tried to Shut Robin Down, and the player rolled a 10.
Seth: This is real life, not Harry Potter.
Robin: Fine. Don't believe me. I'll look into it on my own!
She ran away crying. After making such a scene, I think she had the Condition: OMG Robin Total Idiot.
Zane (to Anthony): Dude, are you all right?
Zane's Player: And then punches him totally the f*ck out.
A security guard broke that up, I think, although my notes say "with cane", which may mean that the guard needed it to walk, making him perhaps less than totally effective.
Chad suggested to Verge that they skip lunch and get outside and run, not bothering to mention that he meant they should do that in wolf form.
Verge: I don't know man -- eating -- but running -- I should get out of these walls.
In a slight stretch of the rules, this was counted as an attempt to Run Away, so the player rolled and got a 6. Chad and Vergil, running as wolves, encountered the Twins. These were Nura and someone whose name I can't read (Akwkwne? Athwleven?), both members of fencing team, and, obviously, therefore, rivals.
One of the Twins: Crap -- I hate it when we run into wolves.
GM: They turn into hyenas and charge you.
Meanwhile, Seth released the snakes outside. Heidi followed him.
Heidi: It's like you can talk to them.
Seth: Uh, no! No.
Heidi: The empathy you're showing them -- it's so -- so --
She touched his arm. Not having much experience with this, Seth tried to Gaze into Abyss. The player rolled a 6.
GM: She throws herself on you and kisses you.
Seth: That's exactly what Robin did.
Robin's Player: I did?
Seth: This is obviously how humans act.
GM: She starts taking off your clothes. Do you stay in human form?
Seth: I -am- trying to meet my needs within Human Society.
This required a roll to Hold Steady. Fortunately, the player rolled a 10.
GM (to Vergil): Heidi is loud, so mid Cat and Dog battle, you hear this going on.
One of the Twins (still in hyena form): Man, this is awkward now.
Vergil: You can talk?
Meanwhile, in the lunchroom, Brittani talked to Mercy.
Brittani: Was Mr. Rogers sketching on you?
Mercy: He's -always- sketching on me.
Brittani: He looked down my shirt the first day of class.
She asked if Mercy had a date for the dance.
Mercy: I'm really flattered, but I don't go that way -- But I'm really super flattered -- and if you ever want to get something to eat...
Each girl tried to pick a hair off the other's sweater. Hair made an excellent Sympathetic Token for use in casting hexes on a person. Understandably, Mercy tried to stop Brittani. The player rolled with Cold to Hold Steady. She got a 12. Mercy tweaked her own hair back.
GM: Nice. You Hold All the Steady.
This meant that Mercy could remove a Condition.
Mercy: I'm no longer a nerd -- and I'm totally going to summon tarantulas next!
Antares talked to Zane, and the GM decided that Morrigan could hear Antares.
Antares: Who cares what guys asked you? Those guys are all lame!
Morrigan: We have to work on your vocabulary.
GM: Roll to Shut Antares Down.
Morrigan probably rolled something in the 7-9 range, as each got a Condition:
Antares: Freaked Out Morrigan: Watched
Robin rolled to turn Morrigan on, getting a 9. Meanwhile, in the woods, there were snakes, cats, and dogs.
One of the Twins: Which ones are you?
Vergil raised his eyebrow.
One of the Twins: Oh, it's f*cking Vergil -- I recognize that smell.
Vergil's player rolled to Run Away, getting a 6 again. I think the idea was to get his clothes, given the player's interpretation, which we liked.
Vergil's Player: I found the wrong clothes. I don't know where mine are.
Vergil found Seth's clothes, and, I think, put them on. The twins got into their own clothing, as, I think, did Chad. Now human, the students looked at each other.
One of the Twins: So is this like a wrestling team here?
Vergil: This is lunch.
One of the Twins: Lunch?
Vergil: Squirrels, man -- fat squirrels out here.
After the Twins left, Chad and Vergil wondered what happened next. Should they tell someone?
Vergil: Who we gonna tell?
Chad: The -guys-!
Meanwhile, Seth found that his clothes had wandered off.
Heidi: I've never done that before.
Seth: Neither have I.
Heidi: So, did you like it?
Seth (guessing at answer): Yes.
Heidi: Oh good. You're not gonna tell Robin about it.
Seth: Who?
He continued to search for his clothing.
Seth: ...I had clothes... I know I had clothes.
Seth's Player: Do I even find Vergil's clothes?
GM: Roll to Gaze Into the Abyss.
Seth's Player: 5.
GM: There are no clothes.
Seth: Not a big deal to me -- but how are humans -- do they just steal your clothes?
He decided to sneak back to his dorm room, which was handled as a roll to Run Away. He rolled a 9. Seth's roommate was Carl, whom my notes say was a math nerd. Carl was not in the room. Seth's matriarch was. Seth bowed.
Matriarch: Rise Ssseth. Hows sschool?
Seth: It's going great.
Matriarch: Exsselent. I would know -- Have you chosen a mate among the many possibly worthy humans at this school?
Seth: Not yet.
Matriarch: I undersstand. I undersstand, but homecoming is going on...
Seth: I have chosen two women to go with me.
Matriarch: Exsselent -- that shows great initiative. After the dance, bring them both to me that I may judge them. I will be waiting in the foresst.
Robin burned a String on Mercy to offer her an exp point in return for promising to meet Robin later. Zane and Mercy flirted with each other. Antares told Zane to kill Brittani.
Zane: Why can Morrigan hear you?
GM: Ancient pact with Crow demon that Antares forgot about.
Zane: Why do you want Brittani dead?
Antares wanted Mercy's soul and saw Brittani as a rival to Zane. So, Zane made a Plan. The plan was to turn Brittani on to other girls. Perhaps Aoi would be interested? She was currently in the woods, smoking marijuana. Obviously, Zane had to get Aoi and Brittani into a room together.
Vergil learned that there was a new person on the wrestling team -- Heidi. He told everyone about the fencing team being hyenas.
Teammate: Dude -- we gotta have a rumble! Really bad ass!
Vergil: Beats a stupid dance. Besides, it's outside!
Teammate: Seriously -- they're the fencing team -- we can't let them get away with --
Vergil: Being remotely cool.
Mercy met with Robin.
Robin: How do you do it?
Mercy: Look beautiful all the time? It's called Supora.
When Robin pressed her, Mercy hexed Robin, casting Wither. Robin took 1 Harm.
Seth's Player (I think): I'm more worried for the snakes than either of them.
This means that there was a snake nearby, and my notes indicate that someone, likely Mercy, Manipulated an NPC, in this case, the snakes, into biting Robin.
Robin (using the move Making Excuses): It was probably just scared. It's so -cruel- to summon up real snakes -- They didn't -mean- it.
Mercy now had enough experience for an Advance. The player decided that she was now part of a Witch Coven. More accurately, she had always been part of one, retroactively, but could only now make use of this fact.
Zane asked Antares about what Brittani needed.
Antares: Brittani has almost everything she needs -- -almost- everything -- except money.
And, Aoi sold pot. For Money.
GM: Everyone says slackers have no drive, but she is like a business woman. She is kicking ass!
I think Zane told Aoi that Brittani wanted to buy pot and told Brittani that Aoi was into her. He left the two alone together, and, amazingly, his plan worked.
Antares: Well... that was... okay I guess... maybe I don't have to hit her with a meteor now.
Robin begged Mercy to drop her spell.
Mercy: Give me a reason why I should drop it.
Robin: I'll do whatever you say!
Mercy dispelled it.
Robin: What do you want?
Mercy: I don't want anything -- yet -- give me that ring.
I think Robin protested, but then capitulated, and it may have been a ring Seth gave her, but I'm not sure. Meanwhile...
GM: Aoi and Brittani totally f*cked in the girls' shower.
Zane: If I could do that for them, I could totally do that for myself! Round 2!
I forget the context of this:
Coach: Can you tell the nurse I said hi? Maybe just find out whether she's married.
Meanwhile, Vergil decided that the Wrestling Team should issue a formal challenge to the fencing team by leaving a half eaten squirrel in their clothes.
Someone on the Fencing Team: OMG <chomp> who would leave a <chomp> it's pretty good, actually --
Heidi knocked on Verge's door.
Heidi: So... Can I be a werewolf?
Verge: You're on the team now! It's kind of like passing the tryouts!
Heidi: So you're gonna bite me?
Verge: If that's what you're into!
The player rolled a 13 to Turn her On.
GM: So you're gonna take advantage of her sudden interest in you?
Verge: I'm a -dog-, man!
Someone (probably Vergil): We're all 1 big happy pack...
At this point, I note two things in retrospect. First, Zane had just made Aoi and Brittani happy. One of the principles of Monsterhearts is that happiness comes at someone else's expense. So, someone was unhappy about the two girls getting together, perhaps someone who had a crush on either Aoi or Brittani. Then again, in this one shot, it was fine for this not to come up again. Zane had plenty going on.
Second, Vergil wasn't really being stressed. I'm not sure how one would put pressure on him. But, a happy-go-lucky werewolf for whom everything is going right, even in a one shot, is very odd. I thought it had to do with six players and only so much mind space to create things on the fly.
I think my notes say something about the book Mercy stole and what the cover was like. Then, there are some lines whose context I utterly forget:
Yeah, I saw that! Were you watching -again-? So we -might- have a -slight- problem...
Meanwhile, Seth went to his roommate Carl with a request for help. Surely, his math geek of a roommate could help him look into the finances of potential mates?
Carl: What's in it for me?
Seth: You can have the one I -don't- choose
Carl: Yeah!
Robin's family was reasonably well off, with a few million squirreled away.
Heidi's family: was probably comparable in wealth. However, Heidi's mother recently lost her seat as a Member of Parliament in disgrace. There was some kind of sex scandal which she strongly denied. The other party was unnamed. So, while it was fair to assume the family was pretty well off, there was this weird political thing going on.
Seth: So, Robin it is.
GM: If there's one thing you know about humans, it's politics.
Antares told Zane to give a certain item to Mercy.
Antares: The item will be very significant -- very, very significant -- just make sure you know where it is -- generally <sneaky?>
GM: You have a beautiful jade comb.
Robin went to do research with computers. Mercy's mother got a string on Robin. I'm not sure how that happened. Possibly Robin's player rolled a 6 or less, which would have allowed the GM to make a Hard Move.
Robin found a book that looked promising.
GM: The letters rearrange themselves into an eye watching you. Then it crinkles to ashes in your hand.
Robin: Oh!
Morrigan: I smell a meal!
She talked to Robin, trying to make the Mortal even more afraid than Robin already was. She succeeded.
I forget the context of this, but it pretty much summed Mercy up.
Someone: All magic has a price.
Mercy: I know that, and I pay it with AmEx.
Someone: Well, if you can AmEx your way out of this one.
Zane approached Mercy. At this point, at least a day had passed.
Zane: Mercy, I saw this last night when I was shopping -- and I thought of you.
He showed her the comb. She knew immediately that it was an ancient magic artifact.
Mercy's Player: What does it do?
It was an ancient Chinese fighting comb used by a legendary martial artist. I think this was White Eyebrow of the Wu Dong clan, at least if I'm reading my notes correctly.
Zane: Do you like it?
Mercy: It's amazing -- where did you -get- it?
Zane: I know a guy.
Antares (to Zane): China.
Zane: China.
Mercy: You went to China?
Zane: No, I had it delivered. I know you like old things and playing with your hair and you're a pretty girl who should have pretty things.
Mercy held the comb.
GM: The power!
Antares: Good job...
Mercy: Thank you. She slides it in.
Zane: It looks really good on you. (pause) So, there's this dance...
And Mercy agreed to go with him.
Seth's Player: Seth has decided he's only taking Robin to the dance. He doesn't realize he should probably break up with Heidi first.
Carl started bugging Seth to keep his promise and let Carl have Heidi. Seth brought Carl to Heidi's room.
Seth: This is Carl. I've decided to go to the dance with Robin alone.
Seth wanders off down the hall. He heard a wet squelching noise and turned back -- giant wolf pacing towards him dripping bits of Carl.
Seth: That bastard Vergil --
Seth's Player (doing a quick reality check): Did he know about Vergil?
GM: Well, he -has- been watching him...
Seth: Enough. I've made my decision.
The player rolled a 12 to Shut Heidi Wolf down.
Someone, either Zane or Morgan, Gazed Into the Abyss to find out what Antares wanted, what his big goal was. The visions were clear and lucid, but left the gazer Drained. It had something to do with the ancient Mayans. The comb, I think, had the life force of Antares. This is neither particularly clear or lucid so many months after the fact, but it may have made more sense then.
Meanwhile, Heidi went to Vergil's room.
Vergil: You mad, Heidi? What?
Heidi: Yeah, I'm really mad.
GM: She wants you to f*ck her while Robin watches.
Vergil: Is this -at- the dance?
Heidi: I don't care where it happens.
Vergil's Player: What Vergil Heard: I'm gonna have sex if I can get this other girl to -watch-!
GM: Vergil is the luckiest wolf in the world.
Seth went to Robin.
Seth: Good news -- I've gotten rid of Heidi. I'm just taking you to the dance.
Robin: That's great!
She kissed him, rolling to turn him on. She rolled 9 and added 1 for true love for a total of 10, a full success (as full a success as one gets in Monsterhearts, anyway). They had sex, triggering each other's sex moves. Robin became part of Seth's fallen dynasty, generating a String.
Seth became his darkest self.
Seth's Player: I don't think that's gonna be good for you.
Robin's Player: No, probably not.
Someone: It never is.
GM (I think): The Mortal -- needs to be hurt...
Seth: Let's go to the woods.
Robin: No, we're going to the dance.
Seth: Let's take a moonlight stroll...
Matriarch (appearing): Let me make it easy for you.
Robin (rationalizing, making excuses, and otherwise doing what the Mortal does): This must be your pet, right?
Matriarch: Well, someone's -someone-'s pet.
Robin: I think I need to go for a walk.
Matriarch: No, you need to stay right here.
GM: She wants you at dance assuming dominance over foolish mortals.
Robin tried to run, but rolled a 6. She was:
Robin's Player: Entrenched, very entrenched. It's one of the things that might keep me alive.
She tripped over a snake and took a harm.
Robin: Ow! Owwww.
I think Robin Gazed Into the Abyss, trying to figure out where the pieces in Antares's game were. In her vision, Antares was trying to get in Seth's way. Morrigan was looking over Antares's shoulder. The chessboard was the roof of the building where the dance was.
And, everyone gathered at the dance.
Vergil (to Robin about Heidi): You know each other? That's so hot!
Robin: We sit next to each other in class.
Mercy and Zane decided to bring Robin up to the roof to sacrifice her for Antares. Robin tried to get Heidi to refocus her anger to help Robin against Antares's plans.
Heidi: If you can turn around right now and break it off with Seth and crush his heart and stomp it to the ground.
Robin: But I can't! Seth is so nice!
Heidi: Then we're going to the roof!
Zane (to Antares and Mercy): What is happening? Tell me what is happening.
Mercy: What do you mean?
Antares spoke to both of them. Mercy, scared, dug her nails into Zane.
Antares: It all leads to the roof. Robin has to die on the roof.
Seth: Vergil, take Heidi out of here.
This was the Serpentine Temptation move. I don't remember whether it worked.
Zane: I've done so much for you. Why should I murder?
Antares: If you don't, perhaps my power will go to someone more amenable.
Zane: Why should I do this for you?
Antares: Power has always flown through you. Why not _be_ that power?
GM: He's offering to incarnate himself in you.
Mercy: Take it!
Zane agree by kissing Mercy hard. I think Mercy and Zane and Heidi made Robin go up to the roof. Robin tried to get Morrigan to help her, but the Ghoul refused.I
This was actually bad play on my part. My thinking was that Morrigan wanted fear, and Robin was afraid, and helping Robin would be to deprive herself of a meal. But, it also meant I was being passive, which is something of a boring choice. And, as Josh noted, it ignored the string that Robin was willing to burn to give Morrigan experience in return for her help. A string isn't abstract; it needs to mean something. And this string meant that Robin knew something about how Morrigan had died. Morrigan should have been curious to know what that was. Also, if Robin died, she would no longer be afraid. So, as I said, generally bad play on my part.
Even so, Robin wasn't entirely without recourse. She had learned how to do hexes. Mechanically, this meant the player had gotten five experience points and earned an advance, choosing to take the Hexing move from the Witch Skin. By comparison, I earned only 1 exp the entire game, a sure sign I wasn't playing well. Narratively, Robin had been doing research, reading Strange Grimoires and the like. She now bound Heidi to do no harm.
Seth told Morrigan that Robin was his love and his soulmate. Full kudos to the player there, giving me a reason to have my character rethink, as Seth had taught Morrigan what love was. I decided to have Morrigan roll to Gaze Into the Abyss, and I got a 4.
Morrigan: I'm sorry, Seth, but I'm so -hungry-.
I'm not sure if I should have done that. I was given a perfectly good out. OTOH, we all knew the climax had to be on top of the roof. On the third hand, not having it on the roof would also have been fine. And on the fourth hand, going up to the roof and picking a side were two separate things.
Vergil (to his fellow wrestling teammates): The real party's up on the roof! Come -on-, man, those hyenas won't kill themselves!
And so, everyone went to the roof.
GM: The floor of the roof is alternating black and white stones for some reason.
Robin was tied to a water tower on the roof.
The wrestling team was all very confused. They'd expected a straightforward rumble with the fencing team.
Mercy pulled her hair free of her cowl and stood, walking toward Robin, heels clicking. She got a text from her mother.
Mercy's Mother's Text: What's going on?
Mercy's Text: I need help.
Mercy's Mother's Text: We're on our way.
Robin (to Zane): If you let Antares win, you will die. You'll be gone. You won't be the same.
Mercy: No, you won't. You'll be so much better.
Seth tried to untie Robin. Seth's player rolled an 8 to Hold Steady to do this, so Seth carried 1 forward, but gained the condition Terrified.
Robin tried to Hex Mercy. Mercy's player maintained that Mercy, being the Witch, knew better than to look at Robin's face, as eye contact was necessary for Robin to cast the hex. I think Robin's player said that Mercy should have to roll to Hold Steady, rather than automatically succeeding, and I think the GM agreed. Certainly, someone rolled a 3 to Hold Steady.
The Witch was utterly gung ho on killing the Mortal. This in itself wasn't necessarily a problem. We all know that Monsterhearts will often get player vs player. But, trying to circumvent the rules is something one can't allow, precisely for that reason. So, I think the Witch's player and I were playing somewhat badly, and that the GM didn't quite have enough spoons to make Vergil's life difficult. Despite that, the climax was feral and over the top, full of Sturm und Drang.
The werewolves were on the side of Mercy, Zane, and Antares. The werehyenas were on the side of Robin and Seth. Hexes flew all over the place. One of the hyenas burst into flames. Another turned into a frog. Another's teeth fell out.
From Salem, which was not that far away, came a flying V formation of witches on brooms!
Seth's Matriarch joined the fray in dragon / giant snake form.
GM (to Mercy): She reaches up and eats one of your second cousins.
Mercy: I never liked her anyway.
Vergil tried to eat the big dragon, to find its secret weakness. The player rolled a 6 while trying to Lash Out. The Snake swallowed Vergil whole.
GM: You are Inside a Dragon
Mercy's Player: That's a Condition!
I think Vergil took 1 Harm, and possibly talked to Antares. Certainly, someone did, as my notes say "Everyone talks to Antares". Zane uses the Infernal move Strings Attached to ask Antares to stop Seth.
Antares: Well, I don't know if I can move -him- -- but I can certainly move that watchtower.
Seth tried to hold on, but his player got a 5 on the roll to Hold Steady. I think the tower stopped moving when it reached the stairs. But, Seth still had String on Zane +1 forward to untie Robin, which made his roll a 7. And, Antares still had the Condition Freaked Out, which raised the total to 8.
Someone, I think Mercy, tried to Lash Out Physically at -1 to cut Robin's throat. I think she also tried to cast Illusion on Robin, but rolled a 2.
Mercy's mother crashes to ground in front of Mercy, badly hurt. A hyena had knocked her out of the air. Mercy screamed and ran to her mother.
Mercy: Zane, help me!
Zane took an Advance, choosing to take All of the Bargains open to the Infernal that he hadn't already taken.
Zane's Player: I use the Elsewise power to do most violent thing I can -do- to that hyena.
The player's total was 8. The hyena's body was decapitated, and the body reverted to human. Morrigan threw the head down the stairs, hoping to feed off the fear it generated. But, no one was there. Instead, everyone was outside, watching the action on the roof!
Robin figured out which wolf was Heidi.
Robin: Heidi! You want it, you have it. (to Seth) It's over. I don't want you. I don't love you. I never have. (starts crying)
Heidi froze.
Mercy: She's lying!
I think Mercy's player rolled 12 to Manipulate an NPC, in this case, Heidi.
Heidi: Seth? Is that true?
She reverted to human form, naked, and covered in blood.
Seth (who, as his player noted, hadn't actually heard a word of it): Yes.
Robin barely Held Steady to keep from crying.
Vergil chewed his way out of the dragon, Lashing Out Physically. The player got a total of 7, which meant Vergil did 1 harm to the dragon, but also took 1 harm.
Robin ran down the stairs. Seth started to follow.
Robin: No! Don't follow me!
Robin's player rolled to run away, but only got a 5. Mercy followed Robin.
GM (to Seth's Player): There's a huge hole in your matriarch. What do you do?
[NB: "What do you do?" is a great question here!]
Seth's Player: I gotta check the family tree to see who moves up a notch. Yeah, if she dies, I don't care about Robin -- that was -her- [the Matriarch's] plan.
Robin discovered that she couldn't run down the stairs. The water tower had hit them. Zane tried to punch Robin off the roof, and his player rolled a 9 to Lash Out Physically. Zane did 1 Harm to Robin, but became his Darkest Self. My notes say, "4/6 darkest self", which I think means that 4 out of the 6 PCs became their Darkest Self in the game.
Seth attended to his Matriarch. She was slowly switching back to her regular form. The werewolves were rolling over the hyenas, and Robin Manipulated one or more of them to lay in against the hyenas, which they were more than willing to do, I think.
Zane caught on white fire. That was Antares possessing him, I think. I But, the big question was: Does Robin die or not?
Mercy tried to push Robin off the roof, and Mercy's Player got a total of 8 on the roll. Robin's player rolled to Hold Steady. My notes now say that Mercy got a 13. I don't know if that was supposed to be Robin getting that result. But, Robin did go over the edge.
However, she did not die, instead becoming her Darkest Self. At this point, everyone heard Antares's voice protesting at Robin's premature departure from the roof, i.e., before she was dead.
Antares: No! It's not over!
And, everyone noticed that all the normal people were watching. The normal people all panicked and bolted.
GM: And the world changes because they all know you monsters are out there.
Morrigan had a smorgasbord of fear, and the GM said that, even though one couldn't win Monsterhearts, I'd just won Monsterhearts. While that made sense at the time, in retrospect, he was wrong, as the win came from a lack of serious engagement or risk taking. If I want to play safe, I shouldn't be playing Monsterhearts.
Morrigan wasn't the only one who was happy.
Vergil: This is -way- better than homecoming, when we fought the chupacabra!
GM: What are you doing as the credits roll?
Mercy kissed Zane as everything was on fire!
Morrigan worked to increases the fear!
Vergil became the new hot thing in Worldwide Wrestling Foundation, like a World of Darkness Gangrel vampire, but a werewolf!
Seth took his Matriarch away from the family so that he could both nurse her back to health and improve his standing in family
Zane and Mercy were riding through desert on a motorcycle -- with 14 cop cars behind them, chasing them!
Robin founded Moms Against the Supernatural, but was still in love with Seth. It's possible that Morrigan used the new organization to her advantage.
After the session, Josh said that Mendez had dome some really good gming, getting the -right - amount of NPCs and NPC activity into the session, not too much, not too little. This is, of course, a hard thing to pull off.
Mendez said that it helped that folks were willing to have their PCs at risk. Otherwise, he said, everyone would have stayed with their "own" NPCs and ignored the rest.
