Monsterwarts
22 February 2013, 8 pm - midnight: Monsterhearts: Monsterwarts
GM: Matt Weber
Lilith White: The Fae: Summer. House Ravenclaw. Female, fae, dainty, mesmerizing eyes, freakishly tall (6' 2"), rakishly thin. Born fae.
GM (technically, MC): Why are you at Hogwarts?
Summer: It's funny to watch them dance. They think they know magic.
Me: The Vampire: Lucian. House Slytherin. Male, intense, with hungry eyes. Old by human terms, i.e., might be 70, but looks like a high school student.
GM: Why are you at Hogwarts?
Lucian: Know thy enemy.
GM: So, you're like a vampire spy?
Lucian wouldn't have put it that way, of course, but it isn't utterly inaccurate.
Sean Leventhal: The Queen: Eric Drake. Quidditch team captain (originally the Seeker, but he later changed this to the Keeper). House Gryffindor. Extremely handsom, perfectly groomed. His Gang was the Grffindor Quidditch team, or rather, its inner circle.
Stephanie Wolfe: The Mortal: Griselda "Zel" Black. House Slytherin. Stephanie interpreted "Mortal" as "almost a Squib". Zel was from the Ancient and Noble House of Black. She was on the Slytherin Quidditch team. As for why a Squib was at Hogwarts:
Zel: Where else would I be?
Her parents expected a lot of her. She felt displaced at Hogwarts.
The game was set after the books, a couple of years before Harry Potter's oldest child would be entering Hogwarts. Readers familiar with the series may recall that there are no more Blacks. Well, either this is a _different_ Black family of great prestige, or there were a few more Blacks out there than folks realized, or we're not worrying about 100% fidelity to the books.
New rules, written by Joe Mcdaldno (aka the author of Monsterhearts):
1. When someone uses magic outside of class, the next NPC action is at an advantage, unless that someone was using it to defend friends, in which case, the next NPC action is at a disadvantage.
2. Extra experience rule for each house:
- Gryffindor: When you put others at risk to pursue an ideal
- Ravenclaw: When you use intellect to silence others
- Slytherin: When you lie, cheat, or steal
- Hufflepuff: When you let others use you
Strings:
Summer: She wears her heart on her sleeve, so everyone gets a string on her. She has captured Eric's fancy, so has 2 strings on him.
Eric finds Lucian threatening. Lucian has one string on Eric. Eric has 2 on Lucian.
Griselda: Zel is Lucian's girlfriend. She doesn't know or hasn't admitted he's a vampire. Lucian, has 3 strings on her. She has one on him.
Lucian: He is beautiful, so he. has one string on everyone. Eric once saved his unlife, so Eric has 2 strings on him.
Lucian's stats were Hot 2, Cold 1 (highlighted), Volatile -1, Dark -1 (highlighted).
(Actually, everyone took high Hot. I looked at Georg Mir's chart showing Stat combinations after the game (http://www.story-games.com/forums/discussion/17982/monsterhearts-graphical-analysis-of-skins-stats-combinations), and saw that the Queen and the Vampire both have high Hot and Cold, while the Fae and the Mortal both have high Hot and Dark.)
Starting moves: I didn't want Invited (the vampire has to be invited into a home, but when someone does invite him in, gains a string on that person), and I wanted to see what would happen if I did not take the hypnotic ability, at least at first. I took:
Marked for the Hunt: When you feed on someone, you establish a close bond with them. When you _gaze into the abyss_ concerning their whereabouts or well-being, roll as if you had Dark 3.
In theory, this would have worked well, as Dark had been highlighted. But, one ball we dropped was that we never established how Lucian fed. I'd sort of assumed he fed on Zel, and at one point thought Stephanie confirmed that. She actually hadn't, and the general group consensus (reached about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way through the game) was that Lucian had never fed on her.
Inescapable: You may spend a string on someone to demand that they not walk out on you. If they still do, gain 2 strings on them.
I totally dropped the ball on this one, as Stephanie handed me the perfect opportunity to use this move.
My starting strings were:
- 2 on Summer
- 2 on Eric
- 4 on Griselda, which increased to 6 over the course of the game
Matt reviewed the use of strings, and, of course, had copies of all of the basic moves and all of the ways to use strings. For readers of Alarums and Excursions who are not familiar with Monsterhearts, Strings are units of influence / social power one has over people.
A string that one PC has on another may be used in any one of the following ways:
- +1 to your PC's roll against the other PC
- -1 to the other PC's roll
- To offer xp if the PC does as you ask. Every five xps give you a bennie, and these are cashed in at once. Matt reminded us that the String was spent whether or not the player accepted the bribe.
- Force the PC to roll to Hold Steady to complete an action
- +1 harm to the PC
- Give a Condition to the PC
A String that a PC has on an NPC may be used in one of the following ways:
- +1 to your PC's roll against the NPC (the GM should not be rolling the dice, iirc)
- +3 to manipulate the NPC
- Cause the NPC to reeze momentarily
- +1 harm to the NPC
- Give a Condition to the NPC
Instead of creating the usual homeroom class, we created a Defense Against the Dark Arts class. This was Joe Mcdaldno's idea, and it's a good one. I'm trying to articulate why.
-- First, it fits the feel of the books. There's no homeroom at Hogwarts. And, there's no other class that has even a remotely similar feel.
-- Second, as soon as one has PCs who would not be welcome in the Wizard World, like the Fae and the Vampire, the classroom setting itself is tense. It furthers the principle "Accept people, but only conditionally", which applied not only to Summer and Lucian, but also to the Mortal Zel, who was not an outsider -- but who also did not have the power a wizard is supposed to have. Note that, mechanically, Zel was as powerful as any PC wizard. This is about social acceptance, not about spell casting.
-- And, even if there were only the Right Sort of Wizards in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, DADA class was kind of like job training.
The game was set after Rowling's books, and at least a couple of years before the book's protagonists' children would be entering Hogwarts. Thus, the school had managed to keep the same Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher on staff for several years.
Matt decided that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was a British-Indian woman, Professor Ragani. She was middle aged, fairly personable, but could get stormy if ticked. This worked for us. The PCs were in their sixth year at Hogwarts and were in Professor Ragani's NEWT class, which meant that they were at least somewhat decent at DADA.
Questions:
For Eric: Which of your gang members are in the DADA class?
Eric's gang consisted of the inner circle of the Gryffindor Qudditch team:
- Sam: Beater
- Veronica: Beater
- Gregory: Chaser
This clique was Talented, which made sense, as it was a sports team. In addition, Sean had the Queen move Bought Loyalty, which let him give an NPC a string on Eric in return for adding 2 to Eric's roll to manipulate the NPC.
Sam wasn't in the NEWT DADA class, but Veronica and Gregory two were.
For Summer: Who in class do you not get along with?
Peter, a goody two shoes Gryffindor.
While Peter and Summer didn't interact directly, he was used well and was something of a foil to Eric.
For Zel: Who, aside from Lucian, from Slytherin, is in this class?
Roderick.
GM: And what's Roderick like?
Really annoying. Zel's and his parents made them play together, and he was always cutting the tail off her magic sparkle pony.
Roderick never did come up in game, but this wasn't a problem -- there were more than enough NPCs to keep things popping.
For Lucian: Who are you slightly concerned might suspect something?
Someone from Ravenclaw -- Cassandra.
Matt added a student:
Warren Chadwick: Lonely, hardworking Hufflepuff, dirty, messy, always has the homework done. Warren was something of an outcast even in his own house.
Seating chart:
- Pf Ragani up front
- First semi circle: Roderick Gregory Zel Summer Warren
- Secont semi circle: Veronica Cassandra Lucian Eric Peter
I'd expected Lucian to be sitting near Summer, but that's not how things worked out, and it made sense he's be sitting near Eric so they could make snarky comments to each other when they thought the teacher wasn't paying attention.
Professor Ragani anounced that the class would have a Very Special Visitor. By the week's end, someone from the Ministry of Magic Art would be dropping by, an Auror named Gazin Brown. (I'm not sure if I spelled that correctly.)
The professor asked who knew what Aurors did, and I decided Lucian didn't know. But, he soon found out that Aurors:
- Hunt Dark Wizards
- Protect the Wizarding World against other Worse Things
He and Summer filed that fascinating information.
Lucian and Zel headed out together after class, Lucian carrying Zel's books. Warren approached them.
He apologized for approaching them, as they weren't of his house. But, he needed help, as he was studying a new kind of magic. This intrigued Lucian, so he agreed that he and Zel would meet Warren at the Owlery after dark.
Meanwhile, Cassandra and Summer watched Gryffendor's Quidditch practice. The two girls were a study in contrasts. Cassandra had curly blond hair, and was bookish, not socially focused. She was short and dumpy; Summer was tall and wispy.
Cassandra was trying to convince Summer that something was really strange about Lucian.
Summer: I don't know. He doesn't seem so odd to me.
Nevertheless, she promised that she'd let Cassandra know if Lucian did anything... odd.
Around this time, we decided that Lucian was probably a prefect for Slytherin. Once the Gryffendor team was done with practice, he watched the Slytherin team.
Tina, the captain of the team, criticized Zel's performance.
Zel: Tina, I've been playing Quidditch since I was in diapers.
Tina: Well, you wouldn't _know_ it!
Zel: Well, _you_ wouldn't know _any_thing!
And Stephanie rolled a 10 for Zel to Shut Tina Down.
Zel: You wouldn't know a Cornish pixie if it bit you in the ass!
Tina blustered, but it was clear that Zel had won that round and undercut the captain's authority.
Matt: What kind of Quidditch captain is Eric?
Sean: Probably not _that_ demanding. But we will all fly laps, and then all do drills.
Me: You're using Hufflepuff techniques on the Gryffindor team.
Meanwhile, Eric went looking for Cassandra. When he found her, he had an important question.
Eric: That Summer girl, is she single?
I'm not sure what answer Cassandra gave him, if any.
Lucian and Zel met Warren in the Owlery. Warren had a strange device to show them.
Warren: Muggles are catching up to us. This is an I-Pod.
Lucian was fascinated.
Zel: Who cares?
She tried to shut Warren down, but the player rolled a 5. Warren now had a string on both Zel and Lucian, as he had a good idea of how their increasingly dysfunctional relationship worked (or didn't work). He left, saying that he didn't want to cause trouble between Lucian and Zel, despite Lucian's attempts to assure him that all was well, and that he thought Warren should teach Muggle Studies when he graduated. After all, Warren clearly knew more than the class textbook on the subject!
Summer intercepted Warren.
Warren: I didn't do it!
Summer tried to pump him for information about Lucian.
Summer: My _friend_ had an interest in him.
She rolled, I think to Manipulate Warren, and had to offer him something to do what she wanted.
Summer: I found _this_ lying around.
Matt: What is it?
Lilith: Something muggles have.
They decided that it would be a pair of earbuds. Warren was delighted -- these would go very well with the I-pod. Summer said she'd found them on the road to Hogsmeade. How the earbuds got there was something Warren wondered about, but we never did come up with an answer for that.
Warren: I'll tell you about Lucian if you let me tell you how these things work and listen to a song with me.
He told her that he thought Zel and Lucian didn't like each other any more, as they were arguing, and that Lucian was being uncharacteristically nice to him, telling him he should teach classes. (Hey, _you_ offer a Slytherin access to a new source of power, and see just how nice he can be!)
After Warren left, Summer decided to zpy on Zel and Lucian as they left the Owlery.
GM: How?
Summer: Glamour.
The GM ruled that this was a roll with Cold to Hold Steady. The roll was good enough to add one to Summer's next roll.
Lucian, while very interested in this Muggle Magic, didn't want to make Zel angry, so he offered to take her to Madame Puddifoot's on the weekend. And, I learned that the Slytherin dorms were down in the basement, not up in a tower. (I know that's in the books, but it wasn't a detail that I found terribly relevant while I was reading them.)
The next day, Summer left the DADA class with Cassandra.
Cassandra: There are ome weird kids in that class.
Summer: About Lucian --
Cassandra: So, about Eric... I mean...
She stopped and let Summer tell her about Lucian. Somehow, a minor not-even-an-argument between Zel and Lucian had become "Zel and Lucian get into fights a lot"! Also, Summer said that Lucian was being nice to Warren, which was _very_ odd.
Cassandra: So, what do you think about that Eric Drake?
Summer: Eric Drake? I don't really think about him.
Cassandra: That's good! Neither do I!
Either before or after DADA class the next day, Eric stopped Summer in the hall.
Eric: Hogsmeade this weekend -- you in?
Summer: Are we going with friends?
Eric: I was thinking the two of us.
Summer: No... I have studying to do...
Eric stretched out, flexing his muscles, as his player rolled Hot to Turn Summer On. He rolled a 12.
Now, as folks who know Monsterhearts well will realize, Summer being turned on has no mechanical effect whatsoever on whether Summer would agree to go to Hogsmeade with Eric. So, Summer continued making excuses until Sean burned a string and offered xp if Summer would agree to go on the date. Lilith accepted the deal.
Summer: O... kay.
Lucian and Zel studied. Well, Lucian helped Zel study and do her homework. Well, maybe Lucian did much of the work for both of them. But, Zel was so interested in how Lucian explained things to her! She assured him that it really helped. And he suggested certain examples to use on upcoming tests.
Yep, Lucian was totally doing Zel's homework for her. This was why she was dating him. Mortals aren't the only ones who can be in denial.
At the next DADA class, Professor Ragani introduced a brown robed 45-50 year old man, the Auror Gazin Brown. He was an Auror who focused on defense against Dark Creatures.
The Auror began by speaking about how, yes, especially in recent memory, defending against wizards who had gone bad had been a very important part of what Aurors -- and, indeed, all wizards -- did, and how it was, of course, still quite important --
Lucian (whipsering to Eric): He's going to say "but" next!
Gazin Brown (with emphasis): How_ev_er...
He went on, of course, to mention the importance of defense against dark creatures. Lucian raised his hand and asked if Muggles counted. The Auror was surprised by the question, but said that they didn't. Lucian tried to press the point, raising the subject of strange Muggle technology. Again, the Auror assured him that Muggles were just not on the list of Dark Creatures, and Warren frantically gestured at Lucizn to shut up. Lucian let the matter drop.
My notes say that the Auror got a string on Eric, I think because he caught Eric making a snarky comment to Lucian.
The Auror said that he'd be around Hogwarts for some time, and would be speaking with the students again, sharing his expertise about Dark Creatures.
Gazin Brown: And Hogwarts is, of course, protected against _all_ such creatures...
Warren went to speak to Lucian after class. Lucian apologized for bringing up the Muggle topic, but reiterated that he thought it was a really important subject, that Warren was very smart for realizing this was the case, and that he had not been joking about thinking Warren should teach Muggle Arts when he graduated.
Lucian tried to Turn On the Hufflepuff boy. I rolled an 8. Matt decided that Warren would offer Lucian something he thought Lucian wanted.
Warren: I... could tell you about more cool Muggle things.
Lucian accepted. Warren walked away, straightening his robe and walking taller.
GM: He's thinking, "Lucian thinks I'm cool."
Me: Lucian thinks he's _smart_, which is just as good.
The weekend rolled around, and everyone went to Madame Puddifoot's.
Peter, who we decided was the prefect of Gryffindor, was there with Cassandra.
Lucian (seeing them): Did I miss something there?
Zel: Who cares?
Lucian decided that she was right. Cassandra was very surprised and not pleased to see Summer coming into Madame Puddifoot's with Eric.
Sean: I'm sure I talk about Quidditch -- a _lot_ about Quidditch.
Eric (once he comes up for air after talking a lot about Quidditch): What are you into?
Summer: I dunno. I like books.
Eric: Which ones?
Summer: Edgar Alan Poe, Riddle books
Eric: Are those Muggle books?
Summer: No, not really.
Peter and Cassandra had an altercation, and Peter stormed out. Summer left Eric and went to Cassandra. Both of them left Madame Puddifoot's, heading for the Ravenclaw tower.
Eric, abandoned, left and caught up with Peter, trying to find out what was going on.
Peter: Cassandra made it clear that she was only there to spy on you and Summer!
Peter had some Advice for Eric. The Thing to Do was to Concentrate Entirely on One's Studies.
Peter: Just forget about women. Forget about it entirely.
Eric: ...Have fun with that.
Lucian and Zel took notice of the strange goings on. Peter walked out on Cassandra, which was clearly Wrong. Summer walked out on Eric, which was also Wrong. The two Slytherins caught up with Eric. Lucian made a very clumsy attempt to Turn Eric On (i.e., I rolled crap). It was clear to both Eric and Zel that he'd just tried to do so -- and in front of his girlfriend!
Eric left the Slytherin students, and Stephanie showed me the true power of the Mortal.
Zel (Making Excuses, a Mortal Custom Move that gains its user xp): Lucian is so _nice_ to be concerned with Drake!
Cassandra was not happy that Summer was with Eric, but I think Summer made it clear that it just sort of happened, and she wasn't really interested in Eric. Cassandra was still sure that _something_ strange was going on.
Cassandra: What if we _found_ a Dark Creature?
After all, clearly one had to be around.
Cassandra: That Auror's not here for his health!
Lilith rolled for Summer to Hold Steady, and got a 10. The Fae gave nothing away.
(Of course, as Matt noted, Professor Firenze is an _obvious_ magical creature, but he's cool, so the school doesn't mind. But, a random Fae or Vampire? Probably not so lucky.)
Meanwhile, Eric met up with his gang -- Veronica, Sam, and Gregory. They overheard an altercation between older wizards from Madame Puddifoot's. The students were outside, not exactly eavesdropping, right?
Wizard One: You idiot! All the vampires were wiped out in England 50 years ago!
Wizard Two: No, I have seen the signs! The occlusion of the bats, the blood in the entrails...
Eric and his gang decided to Run Away. (I think this was actually sneaking away, but mechanically, it's Run Aeay.) A roll of 7 meant that the students would run into something even worse than squabbling wizards.
It got really cold all of a sudden. And there were two black clad floating figures -- Dementors!
Eric tried to shift his friends out of the way. The Roll to Hold Steady left him with a hard choice. He took the Condition of Terrified, and wanted to find out who the Dementors were there for.
The Dementors dragged out the wizard who had been insisting that the vampires were back.
Eric (once the Dementors were gone): You think there really _are_ vampires?
Sam: Those were just Dementors -- not such a big thing.
Matt reminded us that, in the post-novels world, the Dementors no longer ran Azakaban. Apparently, they were working with the vampires. This was, of course, news to me, and not even news yet to Lucian.
Eric urged his friends to join him in finding out more and making sure that Hogwarts remained safe.
One of the Gang: Who are you gonna tell?
Eric: Everyone! If you see anything suspicious, speak up. We'll do something.
His friends, particularly Veronic, weren't so sure about this plan. My notes say that Eric was obviously using the Gryffindor House Move, putting his friends at risk, and that the Gryffindor-Queen thing was very interesting. Sean decided to give Veronica a String on him and add two to his roll to have Eric Manipulate his friends into doing what he wanted. The total was 12.
Eric: We'll be heroes and can tell everyone!
Back at Hogwarts, late at night, Zel and Lucian were outside, on the Quidditch pitch. This is where I said that I assumed Lucian was feeding on Zel and somehow got the impression that Stephanie agreed. This was not the case, but clearly, Lucian had been trying to push in that direction.
Zel: When you kiss me, you're _very_ insistent. It's like you're trying to eat my lips up.
Naturally, Lucian tried to Turn Zel On. My notes say that I rolled a 7. I think this meant that Lucian got another String on Zel.
And then, the Dementors showed up. I forget which of us rolled, but the total was a 7. Stephanie and I agreed that the option to go for was Cause a Big Scene. Matt agreed, noting that he would be hard pressed to come up with something worse than Dementors to run into.
The disturbing thing, for Lucian, at least, was that they called after him.
Dementors: Master! Master!
The disturbing thing for Zel was something completely different. More on that later.
The fleeing Slytherin students all but collided with Professor Longbottom as a crowd gathered.
Professor Longbottom: What's going on?
Zel: D... D... D... Dementors
The news spread as the professor tried to figure out what might have brought the dementors.
Lucian: I don't know! I was just kissing my girlfriend! Unless that brings Dementors?
The professor assured him that it didn't as several students laughed or snickered, which was all as Lucian intended. He really didn't want to be taken too seriously as a potential cause of Dementors, even though he was beginning to wonder if he had been the cause.
Zel was taken to the infirmary. Once things quieted down, Lucian knew what he had to do: sneak back outside and gather flowers for Zel.
This led to folks saying that Lucian was a very good boyfriend. Well, he did try. One thing he had learned, which I think far too few Slytherins in the books ever understood, was: Friendship is _Power_!
(We shall pretend I have given my usual rant about House Slytherin, How Rowling Should Have Done It, and the excellent point Batya Wittenberg made about the fourth book that Rowling really should have capitalized on.)
Now, obviously, there was only one place to gather flowers: The Forbidden Forest.
Two other students just happened to be heading for the Forbidden Forest themselves: Summer and Cassandra.
The two students were talking each other into going after the Dementors.
Summer: Don't you want to show those Gryffindors up in Defense Against the Dark Arts class?
Cassandra thought they could track down the Dementors, maybe capture one of them.
Summer: How do you even _capture_ a Dementor?
Cassandra: You could Patronus and pin them...
Summer: Yeah... but... I didn't even study Patronus a lot --
That got her a funny look from Cassandra. A sixth year Hogwarts student who didn't study Patronus?
Summer: Well... Those Dementors aren't going to catch themselves! Let's go!
As Lilith rolled a 13 to Manipulate, Cassandra was easily distracted.
Lilith rolled Summer's Dark to find the Dementors and got a 9. The Dementors were heading straight for the Forbidden Forest.
Meanwhile, Gregory came to Eric with the news.
Gregory: Lucian himself saw Dementors!
Eric: Want to go find them?
Gregory: No, not really.
Eric: I think we should go find them.
Gregory: I don't think Zel and Lucian like each other very much now, so you could probably find out what you want to know from her.
To Gregory's relief, Eric decided that this made more sense than immediately looking for Dementors.
Meanwhile, Summer and Cassandra found Dementors in the Forbidden Forest. Lucian saw this, and hid, watching them. Summer told Cassandra to run, and Cassandra did. Then, Summer tried to capture the Dementors with Fae magic.
The GM ruled that this was a roll against Cold, the magical equivalent of Shutting the Dementors Down. Lilth rolled a 10.
The Dementors now had the Condition of In My Power, as far as Summer was concerned. As Summer was from the Summer Court, even if her look was Wintry, her magic looked like a blaze of golden light.
Lucian came out.
Lucian: How did you _do_ that?
The Dementors (to Lucian): Master... Help us!
Lucian tried to cut the golden stream of light binding them, but (as I rolled crap -- I forget which Stat was involved) not only did this not work, but Lucian took a Wound.
Summer (and I cannot convey just how much of a threat this sounded like): Don't tell anyone!
Lucian: I won't if you won't!
Summer: Deal!
And so, another Fae contract was made. And, Cassandra led professors to the Forbidden Forest. The Dementors either fled or were sent away by Summer; I'm not sure which. The professors tossed a couple of Patronus spells at them and gathered up the students. Summer said something that my notes say equated to pinning the blame on Lucian for being out after curfew.
Professor Ragani told Lucian to come with her. When they were in private, Lucian apologized for breaking curfew and going to the Forbidden Forest to gather flowers for his girlfriend who was in the infirmary. The professor said that she didn't really care that he was breaking curfew. She wanted to talk to him about Something Else.
Given the presence of the Auror on campus, Lucian was afraid that he knew why. He was, however, wrong.
Professor Ragani (holding up a sheet of paper): This is the homework you submitted. (Holding up another sheet of paper) This is the homework Griselda Black submitted. They are astonishingly similar.
This was a lovely move. It came right out of the fiction -- we'd already established that Lucian was doing Zel's homework. It fit the narrative logic -- whatever the professor wanted to talk to Lucian about, it could not be about vampires on campus precisely because that's what he and the audience thought.
Lucian admitted to studying with Zel, but the professor knew quite well that this went beyond studying. He said that Zel was under tremendous pressure from her parents to perform well in school. I totally failed to roll well enough for Lucian to Manipulate the DADA professor into agreeing to let Lucian help Zel cheat.
Professor Ragani praised Lucian's academic skills, but reminded him that students were in her NEWT class at _her_ discretion. And, since Lucian had reminded her that Zel was from an influential family, and Lucian was not, if the cheating continued, Lucian would be the one expelled from the class, not Zel.
This was unfair and manipulative. It was exactly the right tactic to use on a prefect of Slytherin.
Meanwhile, Cassandra crawled into bed with Summer, her excuse -- as we'd all figured out that she had a crush on Summer -- being that she was still terrified by seeing the Dementors. This was the first and only time a Sex Move was triggered, as Summer didn't have to be having sex for that. And, unlike the audience, she completely missed that Cassandra was coming on to her.
(I suppose one might make a case that the kissing on the Quidditch mound should have triggered a Sex Move, but hey, Dementor Interruptus!)
I think this is where we took a quick break. I wondered aloud why the Dementors were calling Lucian their master, and Matt said that they were basically looking for a new job. I'm not sure Lucian ever figured that out.
During the break, I learned that, while I was still unclear on how to get the most out of playing the Vampire, Stephanie was very clear on how the Mortal is played.
Stephanie: You realize that Zel's just using Lucian as her beard?
Me: Er, no. Who is she in love with?
Stephanie: I'm not telling!
The next day, Eric visited Zel in the infirmary.
Eric: Hey Zel, how's it going?
Zel: Hi, Drake. What do you want?
Eric: Just to talk to you.
Zel: You want to talk to _me_? _That's_ new.
Eric wanted to find out about the Dementor incident. Zel refused to tell him, practically curling up into a ball, especially as he pressed her on what he'd seen.
He tried to turn her on, which did not work. She tried to shut him down. Stephanie rolled a 9, so both students got a Condition.
Zel: Drake makes me Uncomfortable.
Eric: Rejected.
Zel recovered and returned to classes. But, when she went to study with Lucian for their upcoming DADA paper, he had changed his study habits, marking passages for her to read in books, rather than just telling her the answer to problems.
Zel: But... Lucian, you explain things so _well_.
Lucian explained that Professor Ragani had Caught On. Zel said that Lucian would just have to make sure that his homework was sufficiently different from hers. Lucian refused, saying that the professor would still notice.
Zel was not pleased. After all, the whole thing was clearly Lucian's fault for not varying his answers enough. And, didn't he want to study with her any more? She liked studying with him. Did he not like studying with her?
Zel (near tears): Do -- Do you want to study with -- other people?
Lucian tried to explain that the professor had a point, since, if a Dark Creature attacked when he wasn't there to protect Zel, she really needed to learn how to defend herself. But, he didn't get even half of this out before Zel cut him off.
Z: Well fine! Go study with other people!
Lucian was left speechless as Zel stormed out.
This was because it was just such a lovely all around emotional manipulation that I thought it made sense for Zel to have the last word. Of course, after the game, I realized I had dropped the ball. This was an excellent opening for Lucian to use the Inescapable move and demand that Zel not walk out on him. It would not have stopped her from doing so, of course. Ah well, I'm chalking that one up to experience, mine.
Warren, seeing the tail end of this, approached Lucian cautiously, asking if Lucian were free that evening.
Lucian (looking after Zel): Apparently.
Warren had some more Cool Muggle Stuff. And, Lucian was still quite interested. The two boys agreed to meet at the Owlery at 9 that evening.
Zel went looking for Warren later, and found him.
Zel: Can you tell me about the In- Inter-
Warren: The Internet?
Zel: Yes! I'm doing a special project for Professor Ragani on how it can be used for fighting Dark Creatures.
Stephanie flubbed Zel's roll, probably a roll to Manipulate Warren. Matt decided that this would apply later, not just yet. So, Warren agreed to meet her, then started calculating. He was meeting Lucian at 9, so...
Warren: I'll meet you at 8 in the library. No, the library's not safe --
Zel: The Slytherin Quidditch changing room.
Apparently, the Quidditch changing rooms are canonically unisex.
Eric and Lucian talked by the Quidditch playing field, Lucian letting Eric know that Zel had dumped him. He was forthcoming about the details after Sean bribed me with xp, though I turned down a second xp for spilling the beans about Lucian and Warren and Muggle technology.
Lucian (trying to look at the bright side): Women aren't quite as bad as Dementors.
Eric: Was that Zel and Warren going into the Slytherin changing room?
Lucian realized that Eric was right, but decided not to follow the two. He left, and Summer and Eric had an argument about proper tactics for hunting Dark Creatures and the like.
Summer: You wouldn't understand -- you're Gryffindor!
Eric: I suppose Ravenclaws'll take care of the problem!
Summer: Well if you use proper procedure -- yes! But you wouldn't understand because you Gryffindors _rush_ into danger!
Eric (clearly not seeing why that would be a problem): Well, yes.
Somewhere around there, Summer's wand started leaking Fae magic. It was quite obvious. Summer tried to Run Away, but that didn't work.
Eric: What are you doing here?
Summer: What do you mean?
Eric: You're not a wizard!
Summer: Of _course_ I'm a wizard -- if I weren't, I wouldn't be at Hogwarts!
Eric: You know, I heard there were Vampires on campus -- not faeries!
Summer: Who said I'm a faerie?
She decided to tell Eric about Lucian being a vampire. After all, her promise to Lucian about Not Telling was only about not telling that the Dementors had called him "Master".
Me: Technically, she's right!
Lilith: I'm a faerie -- I _run_ on technicalities!
Summer: There's something wrong with Lucian! He's _not_ a wizard _either_. Don't tell _anyone_!
Eric made a sealed lips gesture. It was now his turn to try to Run Away.
I don't remember how that went, and my notes turn next to Warren and Zel in the Slytherin changing room.
Warren (as he sets up a computer): It's interesting that you're doing a special project on using the Internet to fight Dark Creatures. I'm actully researching that _exact_ topic. I'm really glad you asked.
Zel: How does the grill inside work?
Warren: Actually, I don't know.
He booted up the computer and went to work. But, now the failure from earier came into play. It wasn't, as I had thought it might be, Warren catching on to what Zel was doing and preparing accordingly. Instead, the computer started to shake. Smoke poured out of it, coalescing into the form of a tall, pale, thin woman in a cloak.
Woman: You rang?
The two students tried to figure out what had happened.
Woman: There was clearly a summons. Now, which of you shall I consume?
Zel: If you want to eat, the house elves will bring you food.
Woman: Impertinent girl! I believe I will start with you!
This triggered the Mortal move Down the Rabbit Hole. The woman got a String on Zel, and Stephanie marked experience for Zel. Did I mention how awesome the Mortal is? The Mortal is totally awesome when played right.
Naturally, Zel did not intend to stand there while the woman tried to snack on her.
Stephanie: We're in the Quidditch changing room. I grab a broomstick.
Alas, she did not manage to protect herself, and Warren had been enthralled by the woman, who was a vampire named Madame Letitia. I have no idea how the computer summoned her.
In addition to getting a String on Zel, Madame Letitia also did one Harm to her and gave her the Condition: Bitten by a Vampire.
Madame Letitia: Oh you taste good. You taste _very_ good.
Zel: I work out.
Madame Letitia: I will be back soon. Meanwhile, conceal your wound or doom shall fall upon you.
She vanished, and Zel went to the Slytherin dorms, passing Tina in the common room.
Tina: Hey, good practice today. You actually did better.
Zel: Thanks. Glad you noticed.
Tina was working on her Dark Arts paper, which she did not leave for Zel to, ah, borrow. Zel still had her own Dark Arts paper due, and she was bleeding.
The Enthralled Warren met Lucian in the Owlery at 9.
Warren: Lucian, the appointed hour for our meeting has come.
This was a bit of a weird thing to say, but Warren was a bit weird, and Lucian was a bit archaic himself. And, Warren had an interesing Muggle item to show him.
Warren reminded Lucian about the Unforgiveable Curses (or Mostly Unforgiveable, as Harold Feld archly noted, after Book 7), particularly the Avada Kedavra curse, aka the Death Curse. Well, Muggles had something even better than that.
Warren (showing Lucian): This is a Muggle Death Wand. It is called a Gu-on.
Why yes, yes, Warren had a gun. Lucian had no clue what it was, so Warren offered to demonstrate.
Even Lucian knew better than to want Warren to use it on a person. So, Warren suggested using it on one of the students' owls.
Warren: Who don't you like? Or, we can use one of the school owls.
This is Monsterhearts, a game that frees one to allow one's characters to make absolutely terrible decisions. So, Lucian agreed and said that he didn't like Cassandra. I forget who suggested that she'd name her owl Hector, but we all liked that.
Warren: You have to point the Muggle Death Wand carefully.
(Sean considered this THE line of the session.)
And Warren pointed it carefully. And there was a very, very loud noise, followed by Hector falling to the ground, a dead, bloody mess.
Warren was nonplussed, although still enthralled, and magically vanished.
The noise meant that a lot of people showed up and Lucian had a lot of explaining to do. And, he was doing it to the Auror Gazin Brown.
He told the truth, pretty much -- that Warren wanted to show him this Muggle item, that it was a Muggle Death Wand, that Warren had vanished after using it. He tried to downplay his own role, but I don't think anyone was buying that. However, the Auror was understandably less interested in how stupid Lucian had been than in where Warren was and how he'd managed to Aport, since that shouldn't have been possible (if I remember correctly). He told Lucian to break the news to Cassandra. Lucian agreed, and had no real choice but to follow through, as too many people were there when he'd been told to do this.
Thie meant that he had to go to the Ravenclaw tower and answer a riddle to get in.
Lilith: I've got a riddle!
And she did. Better still, it was both one I could answer and one that it made perfect sence that Lucian the Vampire could answer.
Q. What bleeds red, but has a stone heart?
A. A cherry.
Lucian told Cassandra about her owl being killed by Warren and his Muggle Death Wand. She launched herself tearfully at him, not at all mollified by his claims not to have believed that the Muggle Death Wand would actually kill her owl Hector. Lucian tried to fend her off without actually hurting her, and wound up with the condition Pariah. After all, he'd been an idiot, he was partly responsible for Hector's death, and he'd been beaten up by a girl in front of the rest of the Ravenclaw girls.
In DADA class, Eric asked the Auror about vampires. Lucian listened intently, taking notes. The Auror started listing facts about vampires, and noted that they had a "limited form of apparation", if I recall correctly. He trailed off, looking thoughtful.
Warren was absent from the DADA class. The professor hoped that perhaps one of the students might have some information.
Professor Ragani: Apart from Lucian, did anyone else spend time with Warren?
Zel was able to keep her cool and Hold Steady (Stephanie rolled in the 7-9 range), neither blurting out the truth nor giving away that she knew anything to blurt out.
And then, goody-two-shoes Gryffindor Eric told on her.
Eric: Zel was with Warren yesterday.
Zel: I was studying yesterday.
Eric tried to press her, but all she was admitting to was studying with Warren.
Zel: He seemed fine when we were studying.
After class, Cassandra tried to cling to Summer and sob on her shoulder about poor Hector. Summer tried to Shut Down the clinging, crying Cassandra. Alas, a total of 1 left Cassandra convinced that Summer was In On It!
As Summer left the classroom, she brushed by Eric. A burned String and an earlier supply of xp had given the Fae the Witch's Hex-Casting move. Summer hexed Eric with a word boundary -- the Gryffindor student could no longer say the word "faerie". After all, that wouldn't be At All Suspicious if it were discovered, right? (Eric never did find out about this in play.)
Professor Ragani asked Eric to stay after class for a moment.
Professor Ragani: Let people come forward in their own time and way.
She also cautioned Eric.
Professor Ragani: I am well aware that _certain_ Gryffindors in Hogwarts history have been known to take matters into their own hands.
She warned Eric that she would not show any favoritism.
Meanwhile, while Lucian was not happy that Eric had tried to put Zel on the spot, he wanted to talk to her privately about Warren. Had she noticed anything strange about Warren? After all, now that he thought about it, "Lucian, the appointed hour for our meeting has come" was _not_ the sort of thing Warren normally said.
Zel: Well, _was_ it the appointed hour for your meeting?
When Lucian couldn't get Zel to agree that it was strange, he started to explain that he understood she had dumped him for Warren, and that he could accept that, but wanted to make sure she was all right, given how oddly Warren had been acting.
He got maybe half of this out when Zel interrupted him to ask why he thought she'd dumped him. She had done no such thing!
Lucian: But, you said --
Zel: It's that time of month. You know what I'm like then!
Lucian: Yes, you smell delicious! Er, I mean...
I rolled an 11 for his attempt to turn Zel on. Lucian started nuzzling her neck.
That's when I found out that everyone else had been assuming that Lucian had not fed on Zel, and when Lucian found out that _someone_ had been!
Zel made some clumsy excuse about the bitemarks in her neck, that it had been some creature of Hagrid's menagerie. I forget the details, but Stephanie made sure to point out the flaws in Zel's claim out of character, as Lucian would know them. He dragged her to the infirmary, where Madame Pomfrey tisked, tuned out Lucian's claims and Zel's excuses, gave Zel something and told her to stay in the infirmary overnight, and shooed Lucian out.
In the cafeteria, Cassandra went to Eric with her suspicions, particularly those about vampires and Lucian. Recognizing my cue, I had Lucian pick that moment to storm in to ask / demand help.
Lucian: Eric, my girlfriend's been bitten by a vampire!
Eric pressed Lucian to admit that Lucian was a vampire.
Lucian: _I_ didn't bite her!
Eric: I don't believe you.
Lucian: Would I come to you if I'd bitten her, instead of some other vampire cutting into MY girlfriend?
Eric: Okay, _that_ I believe.
Meanwhile, Summer went to the borders of the Forbidden Forest, though I forget exactly how that happened. She watched as the two Dementors she'd bound floated towards her, followed by Madame Letitia, followed by the ensorcelled Warren. The Dementors had, at this point, given up on Lucian as a Master and attached themselves to Madame Letitia, who appreciated their skill set. Or, perhaps, they had always been attached to her and only focused on Lucian when she wasn't around. I'm not sure.
Madame Letitia told Summer to release her hold over the Dementors.
Summer: What will you give me in return?
Madame Letitia: Don't be foolish, child! I do not wish war between the Scarlet Court and the Fae.
Summer: I can't just _give_ you things! There has to be a price!
This was perfectly true, and a roll of 10 to Manipulate Madame Letitia didn't hurt.
Madame Letitia (nodding at Warren): Do you want him?
Summer (with no hesitation and perfect scorn): No!
Madame Letitia offered Summer knowledge that she couldn't get anywhere else. Summer thought about that.
Summer: I seek knowledge of your kind. One on campus.
She explained that she wanted to destroy him, and so she wanted Madame Letitia to tell her how.
Madame Letitia: Very clever! (considers) Well, I'm not planning to stay here any longer.
She told Summer how to destroy vampires.
Meanwhile, Eric, Lucian, Cassandra, Gregory, Sam, and Veronica got ready to do a ritual to find the other vampire, i.e., Madame Letitia. This was, of course, Gazing Into the Abyss, and the question was who should do it. At first, Eric told Lucian to do it.
Lucian: Do you trust me?
Eric (with absolutely no hesitation, iirc): No.
Eric Gazed Into the Abyss and got Lucid and Detailed visions, and also the Condition Drained. The students headed for the Forbidden Forest on broomstick, Lucian riding behind Eric, as the vampire couldn't actually do wizard magic, like, oh, controlling a broomstick especially well.
Summer released the Dementors as the broomstick cavalry arrived. She tried to destroy Madame Letitia, but the Dementors attacked her, both to defend their Mistress and because she'd bound them, and they didn't like that.
Madame Letitia attacked Eric and Lucian, if I recall correctly. She certainly did something that meant I had to roll to Hold Steady, and I got into that lovely 7-9 range. I decided to have Lucian get the condition Terrified and ask a question.
Me: How do we break her hold over Zel and Warren?
GM: That's actually two questions, because it's different in each case.
Totally fair. Well, Lucian was more territorial about Zel, so I went with "How do we break her hold over Zel?"
Answer: Either by having a different vampire bite her or by giving her the blood of a creature even _more_ powerful.
The latter, as Matt pointed out, was not too difficult to do, given Hagrid's menagerie.
When Summer was unable to cast the ritual to kill Madame Letitia, Lucian did so. After all, it's not as if the younger vampire didn't know it. I think that was a roll with Dark, and again, the dice came up in that lovely 7-9 range.
GM: You can either take 1 harm and have it work, or not take harm and have it not work.
Me: I'll take the harm -- it's my second.
GM: Right, the first was because of the Fae magic. Funny thing, that wound just hasn't healed yet.
(Sure, mechanically, it hadn't healed because none of the conditions for healing had been met, but I liked that narrative explanation, that Fae magic was just messing up Lucian more than any ordinary wound would have.)
The GM decided that the harm Lucian took was from the backlash of the spell, which was never meant to be uttered by vampires, after all.
Somewhere around here, the question of whether I could use one of the Strings Lucian had on Eric to give Sean +1 to his roll came up. I need to reread Monsterhearts, as the book is quite clear that the answer is no.
Madame Letitia retreated, taking the Dementors with her. Warren, still enthralled, was left behind. That left just one problem: Eric had fallen off his broomstick.
Lucian tried to catch him, despite not actually being able to, y'know, fly a broomstick. This, of course, required a roll, I think to Hold Steady. I think I rolled an 8.
If this hadn't been a one shot, or if it hadn't been near the end of the session, I might have kept that 8 and pondered messy choices. But, given where we were in the session, I burned the 2 strings Lucian had on Eric to push that up to a 10. Things were resolving the way a Hogwarts novel should resolve -- okay, a Hogwarts novel with more Queer than Rowling dared to put into it, and with a lot more messiness, and also clearly not the first novel in the series, but still, all in all, a Hogwarts novel.
GM: He actually catches you.
Lucian: Eric, could you take over?
Eric could and did, landing the broomstick safely.
Lucian went over to Warren. As I'd managed to get xp at least five times, I had just taken the Hypnotic move. Lucian tried to use hypnosis to break Madame Letitia's hold over Warren and free the Hufflepuff student. Hello, 7-9 result!
For those not familiar with Monsterhearts:
<prre> You can hypnotize people who have no Strings on you. Roll with hot. On a 10 up, they do exactly what you wish and have no idea that anything is wrong. On a 7-9, the hypnosis works, but choose one:
--they realize you hypnotized them --they fuck up your commands --their sanity is unhinged
(Matt: Hot: The thing you're all good at.)
Here again, the fact that this was the end of a one shot influenced my choice: The hynpnosis worked, but Warren realized that Lucian had just hypnotized him.
Warren: She -- that lady -- she just -- (realizes) And you did it too! You're one of them!
Eric drew his wand and pointed it at the vampire.
Eric: Drop your wand, Lucian.
Lucian did, worried -- I'd burned all his Strings on Eric -- but amused despite that. After all, he was still not a wizard.
Lucian: It's just wood. I can't use a wand. What happens now?
Eric: We go back to Hogwarts.
Lucian: They'll kill me.
Eric: You think so?
Lucian: What do you think?
Eric: I think they'll kill you.
Warren: They _should_ kill him! He's a vampire!
Summer: Warren, shut up.
This was clearly an attempt to Shut Warren Down. Hello, 7-9 result! Warren got the Condition Stunned to Silence, while Summer got the Condition Meanie.
Eric: Too many people know.
Lucian: I could _not_ go back to Hogwarts.
Eric: I think that's for the best.
Either here or a bit later, I forget which, Lucian made sure to tell Eric how to get Zel free of the other vampire's influence.
Eric: Good bye, Lucian.
Lucian: Good bye, Eric.
And Sean rolled for Eric to turn Lucian on, I think burning all of Eric's Strings on Lucian to do so.
Coals to Newcastle, really. Or perhaps an interesting study in contrasts, considering what each of us spent our strings on. The Slytherin boy saves the Gryffindor's life, while the Gryffindor plays cocktease, and everyone says that Slytherins are the bad guys? Then again, the session was drawing to a close, and, really, what _else_ could he do with those Strings that was even one tenth as much fun for everyone?
GM: So, how does Lucian respond?
Me: Well, he'll go as far as Eric lets him, bearing in mind that we _are_ in front of witnesses.
We decided that this meant the two boys shook hands, which turned into an embrace, which continued until either Sam or Gregory uncomfortably cleared his throat.
Lucian told Eric to make sure Warren kept up his study of the Muggle world (apparently completely forgetting little details like the problems Warren caused with his Muggle Death Wand) and walked into the Forbidden Forest. After all, the folks from Hogwarts weren't going to be eager to follow him in there, and he was't worried about any of the creatures in the forest bothering him. (Madame Letitia and the Dementors flew _over_ the forest, if you please.)
Eric, Summer, Sam, Veronica, Gregory, and Warren walked back to Hogwarts, where Zel, coming out of the Infirmary, met them.
Warren (to Zel): Don't go on the Internet again -- it's dangerous.
Zel walked beside Warren and took his hand. For, he was the one with whom she was secretly in love.
Zel admired Warren for doing as he liked. Stephanie explained that what Zel saw when she encountered the Dementors was her parents disowning her beloved older sister who had gone to work at the Ministry of Magic, with Arthur Weasley.
So:
- Cassandra wanted Summer.
- Eric wanted Cassandra.
- Lucian wanted Eric.
- Zel wanted Warren.
I'd say Zel won that one hands down. Pure Slytherin cunning and mortal codependency make a scarily effective combination!
The game went very well. There were several reasons for this.
- There were _very_ few changes in the rules. Each change did something very focused, something that made the game feel more like a Hogwarts game.
- The author of Monsterhearts was involved. Joe Mcdaldno is very good at what he does, whether that's explaining what kind of game Monsterhearts is, writing Monsterhearts itself, or figuring out what changes should be made to make the game fit a particular style or setting.
- The main tweak was the setting. This is a lot easier to make work than a blend of two different sets of mechanics, which Matt tried to do with Monsterhearts and Monster of the Week. While I am sure that this blend _can_ be made to work with a little more tinkering, Monsterhearts at Hogwarts is a natural. The Hogwarts students tend to be shits towards each other, just like high school students everywhere (as I think Sean pointed out), which is perfect for Monsterhearts.
- We were all on the same page. We knew our source material, both Monsterhearts and Hogwarts. (I think we'd all played Monsterhearts at least once before?)
- Matt was _very_ well prepared. Everything flowed seamlessly, which means that unless Matt shares his notes and thoughts, for the most part, I can't tell what he planned in advance and what he improvised.
- Matt had handouts the way Misty Fortner did when she ran "A Night to Remember" (a Call of Cthulhu adventure set on the Titanic). We barely used them, but it was vitally important that they were there.
- First, that put us in the right frame of mind. If you view roleplaying as a kind of ritual, the rules "invoke often" and "banish often" apply. The maps of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade invoked the setting of the novels constantly, as they were on the table throughout the game.
- They were there if we needed them. This applied not only to the maps, but also to the basic rules sheet.
- They assured the players that the GM was on top of things.
One further note: While I don't know how much Matt had prepared in advance, as far as plot and NPCs went, he did have Warren ready from the beginning. The original plan, he said, had been to have Warren show the gun, and then, if no one did anything to intervene, accidentally kill someone with it. But, once he got enthralled by Madame Letitia, it was obvious that he'd think it made perfect sense to go and kill someone to try out the Muggle Death Wand.
