Monsterhearts: Decisions, Decisions

18 Feb 2017: 9am: Monsterhearts: Decisions, Decisions

• GM: Shane Liebling
• Miranda Chadbourne: Mortal, Robin
• Katherine Enevio: Ghoul, Iggy
• Me: Werewolf, Levi
• Kit Golan: Witch, Merrill
• Melissa Cohen: Vampire, Isaiah

Shane was using Monsterhearts 1.5, which is to say Monsterhearts with the Sneak Peek pack that Avery had released for the second edition. He wasn't using Small Towns (so I'm not going to go into what those are in system terms), and he said that, given the limitations of a convention one-shot, to think of this less as a movie and more as a pilot show or maybe "an HBO movie". That was a very good way to frame the session.

I forget the context of this:

Someone: Necromancy's a thing.

Someone else: No, that was yesterday's game.

That Someone Else might have been me, given that I'd been in an amazing game of Primetime Adventures the previous evening. where necromancy was an element.

Everyone had personalized coins to represent Strings. We gave those to people who had strings on us. I like this idea and may try to use it in the future. Different colors of poker chips might work, although color blindness is a factor.

The GM explained the limitations imposed by the genre.

You cannot help anyone -- you can only hinder. You cannot adult.

This can change in a longer campaign, where Adult Moves are unlocked. These have nothing to do with sex, which can happen at any point in Monsterhearts that the players are good with. Instead, they're things like building others' confidence, helping them open up, calling people on their crap, and so on.

Everyone started with 3 of 5 xp filled in so that it would only take 2 more to get a new move. Those with options for starting moves had one move already picked for them, but the GM said that we should feel free to change this. He offered us our choice of 6 playbooks, keeping off the table the Fae, Queen, Infernal, Champion, Hollow, Angel, and Selkie. This left the Ghoul, Vampire, Mortal, Witch, Werewolf, and Ghost, and all but the Ghost were chosen by players. This is not surprising, as the Ghost strikes some, including me, as a hard one to play, even though I've seen it done quite well.

In addition to the PCs, we had in our homeroom class:

• Ms. Evans: quite old, occasionally flips the f*ck out at someone and doesn't remember doing this 15 minutes later
• Ted: smells delicious, probably because his parents run a restaurant
• Lucius: asshole quarterback with a temper and a red car
• Heidi: Captain of cheerleaders, always smiling, looks right through you unless you're Someone
• Monica Kowarski: the class drug hookup
• Stefan: in a church youth group, fan boy, Polish transfer student

My notes also say "Pixie 60s?". I have no idea what that means.

At one point, something we did or suggested prompted the GM to say, "No -- that'd be wrong -- just mathematically, it's a problem."

The map of the town included:

• The fountain at the old outdoor mall
• A locals-only beach
• Green Hills Cemetery

The town was Santa Maria, Southern California, very fancy (and my notes are hard to read here: <?> at night, except for very high for you<?>).

Taking a closer look at the characters:

Melissa: Vampire: Isaiah (pronouns he/him/his)

• Not Jewish (I asked, as I was curious)
• Male, intense look
• Hungry eyes
• Many ages old
• Hypnotic
• Cold as ice

The last would prove a bit of a problem IMO, as the player semi-painted herself into a corner. You can play Cold as Ice so long as it doesn't keep you from engaging with other players and getting into interesting situations, and a bit of that problem happened here.

Kit: Witch: Merrill (pronoun they/their/theirs)

• Brooding Wicked Eyes
• Follows grandmother's tradition
• Sympathetic Tokens
• Hexes: Wither, Ring of Lies

Katherine: Ghoul: Iggy (pronouns she/her/hers) Guant

• Origin: Sent
• (Wild Card) [Not sure what I meant by that]
• Hunger for: Chaos
• Move: Originally Satiety, but changed to: What the Right Hand Wants, which gave Iggy a second hunger: Thrills

Miranda: Mortal: Robin (pronouns she/her/hers)

• Down the Rabbit Hole
• Excuses Are My Armor
• My note on the Mortal's Sex Move is: "if Darkest Self -) Sleep -) Darkest Self". I'm not sure what I meant.

Me: Werewolf: Levi (pronouns he/him/his)

• Feisty, with fierce eyes
• Being a werewolf was an ancestral power
• Hot 1, Cold -1, Volatile 2, Dark -1
• Spirit Armor which kicked in when basked in moonlight, something which did not come up in game, alas.

Strings:

Isaiah had 1 String on everyone. Robin had 2 on him, as she had saved his unlife, I think by letting him feed on her.

Merril had 2 sympathetic tokens, which could be used for hexes or as strings.

Merrill's player (to me): Are we friends?

Me: Um... we can be, sure.

Merrill's player: Because I was thinking -- what's the sympathetic token I have from you?

Me: I figure Levi's Jewish, so... one of my kippot. [aka yarmulkes or skull caps]

Merrill's player: Maybe I just asked you for it, and you gave it to me willingly?

I liked that idea. It's good -- it creates a bond between two characters that didn't start off with one. So, yes, Merrill had asked Levi for his kippot, and Levi gave it to them. (Levi had more than one, obviously, but the point was Merrill had one.)

The second sympathetic token was a broach, I think given to Robin by one of her family members. Iggy discovered Merrill taking the broach, but said nothing.

Levi wore his heart on his sleev, so everyone had a string on him. He'd been watching Robin from a distance, and had 2 strings on her.

Iggy had all but forgotten love until Isaiah reminded her, so the vampire had a strong on her. Who watched Iggy die? My notes are a little confusing, saying that it was a bullied smart kid who had killed Iggy and sent her back to high school to cause chaos, which meant that they had 2 strings on each other. But my notes then say that the scientist was Merrill's parent. So I THINK what that means is that Merrill watched Iggy die, and Merrill's parent brought Iggy back to life.

Robin went last, because the Mortal always does. The Mortal always has a lover, and Robin chose Isaiah. This meant that the vampire had 3 strings on her, and she had 1 on him.

Questions

Iggy: Who were you sleeping with and why did you break it off? Levi. Too easy.

Isaiah: Who did you see the principal -- a woman, Molly Kowerski -- making out with behind the bleechers last week? Ms. Evans.

How did you happen to be there? And when? Right after school, about 15-20 minutes after, Isaish had stayed late, was walking out, took a short cut through the athletic field, saw people, and wandered over looking for dirt.

Merrill: Who survived one of your hexes unscathed? Who did it not work on? Math teacher, Mrs. Maloney.

Levi: How has Heidi change dramatically in the last few days? Her scent's completely different!

I got a thumbs up from Kit, who said that was really cool. It was a logical way to take things, and I did it in good faith, but I think it contributed to the way the group was very fragmented. This isn't necessarily an issue, but I'm wondering if a different answer might have made for less general isolation.

Iggy: Who is the most delicious fellow student when comes to getting thrills? Stefan, because he's _so_ straight-laced.

Robin: Who is the principal's daughter and what's her rep? Monica. Her father knows she's doing drugs. He's involved, trying to keep it secret. He and the principal are NOT still married -- there was an ugly scandal in the newspaper. No one wants to talk about it, but everyone knows she's a lesbian.

Isaiah: Why do you have a crush on Lucius? Because he's beautiful, like me!

Merrill: Who does Lucius have crush on? Stefan!

Levi: Whose scent makes your mouth water? [Apparently, my notes lack an answer.]

Iggy: Who hosted last big party and with which of their parents did you make out? Levi's parents. His Mom.

Robin: What does Heidi talk to you about that she doesn't talk to anyone else about? Robin is the new kid. Heidi is her first friend and though she can be a b*tch, she gives Robin the gossip, including the gossip on Levi and Iggy. My notes then say: "Angriest person I've ever seen and revenge Iggy making out w/ L's mom".

I'm not sure how to gloss that. I think it meant that Levi was the angriest person Robin had ever seen and wanted revenge on Iggy.

The GM handed out the sheet of agendas to bear in mind as players. We started in Santa Maria High School on Monday of Homecoming Week. The dance was Friday. We never got to Friday, which I think surprised none of us.

I wrote down this seating chart:

Ms. Evans___________________Sunglasses
Stefan Marcia (not THAT) Buffy Levi
Lucius Iggy Ted Monica
Isaiah Robin Heidi Merrill

However, it was not the final version, and I thought I had a photograph of that, but I don't. I know that Merrill and Levi were sitting together, and I think Heidi was near Lucius, but I'm not sure.

Question for Isaiah: What is Lucius wearing today? His jersey -- there's a game today.

Gum was going around the class. That is, if I read my notes correctly, Levi got gum from Buffy or gave gum to her.

Iggy (to Buffy): Hey, do you have another piece?

Ted took some.

Monica took some.

Iggy took some.

Eventually, the noise from the gum chewing did reach Ms. Evans. She looked up. Levi looked down.

Heidi (to Robin): So, you're going to be voting for me for homecoming queen, right?

Robin: Maybe.

Heidi: Maybe?

Robin: I haven't decided. (beat) Okay -- I'll vote for you. I'll vote for you. I can tell this is important to you.

Heidi asked if Robin had a daate for the dance. Robin looked to Isaiah. She asked if Heidi were dating Lucius, and Heidi indicated that theirs was an on again-off again relationship.

Ms. Evans (to Iggy): What do you have in your mouth?

Iggy: Gum. Buffy gave it to me.

Ms Evans: Please get rid of it.

Iggy: You have any paper?

Ms. Evans: You can spit it into trash can.

Iggy: I'm not only one with gum.

Nevertheless, she tried to spit it into the trashcan, without getting out of her seat. It landed on Lucius's desk.

Lucius looked at the gum.

Iggy: Buffy gave it to me.

Lucius: I don't care if Buffy gave it to you. You put it on my desk.

Iggy: I didn't mean to.

Lucius: Here, let me give it back.

He dropped it on her hair. Heidi laughed.

Iggy's player rolled to see if Iggy kept her cool. Not on a 6.

Iggy: You're going to regret this!

Lucius: Fat chance. Yeah, I'm so obviously scared -- and you drive that Toyota thing.

Iggy: It's a convertible.

Levi: Five bucks says he will regret it by Friday.

Exactly what Ms. Evans was doing during all of this I did not record. Things escalated throughout the session between Iggy and Lucius, and this escalation involved their cars.

It did not involve Levi, and there were two reasons for this, I think. One was that whenever he was in the same place as Iggy, she was either on the receiving end of trouble, which pleased him, or she was scoring a point in a way he kind of admired against someone he didn't really like anyway, so either way, he had no positive push to be more active.

The second reason was that he had something else to focus on: Heidi and her new scent. Between how I was playing Levi and how Melissa was playing Isaiah, we had three groups of PCs: Isaiah and Robin, Levi and Merrill, and Iggy. In theory, Levi should have been more interested in what Robin and Iggy were doing, but that isn't where things went.

The next scene was in the cafeteria.

Robin went over to where Lucius was sitting with his clique.

Lucius: Yes?

Robin: Can I sit with you? Please?

She got a 10 in her attempt to turn him on, and he graciously granted her request.

Iggy may or may not have done anything to Lucius's car at this point -- I forget. Stefan came over to Iggy.

Stefan: Still on for hanging out tonight?

Iggy (trying unsuccessfully to comb her hair out): Sure, but I might need help washing my hair...

Levi Stared Into the Abyss, trying to learn more about Heidi and why here scent had changed. He had a vision of Heidi, as if he _were_ Heidi. The cheerleader unlocked here car, and everything went black. Then, she was struggling, waking up, strapped down, staring up at a bright light. At this point, Levi seemed to be seeing Heidi from another vantage point -- from the point of view of someone in a white jacket lifting her off table. Then, all went dark and the vision ended.

Levi told Merrill about Heidi and the strange change in her scent. Merrill immediately went over to Heidi and demanded to know why the cheerleader's scent had changed. They were bold and confident and used Ring of Lies, getting a 12 on the roll. Merrill realized that Heidi genuinely had no idea what they were talking about. She didn't know that her scent had changed, let alone why.

John, one of the football players, Shut Merrill Down with some kind of put down. Lucius was smiling.

The noise turned out to have been the sound of a chair going through the front windshield of Iggy's car. Lucius may or may not have done the deed himself, but he was certainly the party responsible. Iggy was not happy.

Stefan: What happened here? Is that your car, Iggy? Why is there a chair through your windshield?

And we cut to after school, or at least after classes.

After School

Robin and Isaiah were in the local Starbucks.

Robin: Feeling okay?

Isaiah: Why do you ask?

Robin: How's school?

Isaiah: Boring.

Robin: Well if you've been there that long... What are you doing later, this evening -- I mean if you're not satisfied -- with Starbucks?

Isaiah: I don't have plans -- yet. Are you offering something?

Robin: If you need something, I'm here.

Isaiah: See you in an hour.

Lucius, in line at the Starbucks, was watching the exchange, and clapped.

Isaiah: Don't worry -- I've got something for you too. Don't worry, honey.

Lucius (a little creeped out): ...yeah...

My notes say that Heidi could walk to school. Levi decided to follow her.

Stefan drove Iggy home. I think he was helping her comb out her hair. She cried, and tried to turn him on, but thoroughly failed.

GM: Yeah, let's have you turn into your darkest self.

Iggy's player: So I _do_ eat him -- just not in that way.

GM: Go for the jugular.

Iggy: Sorry, Stefan.

Poor Stefan. He was a genuinely nice person.

Meanwhile, Merrill asked Levi which locker in the gym area belonged to John, the football player who had shut Merrill down. Levi identified it by smell.

Merrill broke into the locker and went through John's stuff, finding a nice watch. It was not actually John's watch, but John's father's watch.

Merrill: Will he notice it's missing?

GM: Yes.

Merrill: I'll take it anyway.

Levi moved to keep watch during all of this and I said that I saw why Levi and Merrill were friends. They didn't ask each other stupid questions like "What do you mean Heidi's scent changed and why do you even care?" or "Why are you breaking into John's locker?" They just backed each other up.

Merrill finished up as Levi scented John coming. Merrill hid in the showers while Levi distracted John by asking him how Levi could maybe join the team and generally trying to fanboy at John, maybe turn him on. The net result was that both got a Condition from the other. John was Confused. Levi was A Freak. But, the important thing was that Merrill was Not Caught.

The GM cut to Robin and Isaiah.

GM: Where is this entanglement taking place? The bathroom at Starbucks?

Isaiah's player said that it would be in Isaiah's home, his turf. He wanted to be in charge. He tried to turn Robin on, and I'm fairly sure he succeeded.

Robin: What are you doing and who are you thinking about?

Isaiah's player (I think): I'm actually speechless -- I don't know what to say right now.

I think this was because Robin was very much offering herself to him.

Meanwhile, Robin pocket dialed her mother without realizing it, and also hit the mute without realizing it, so didn't hear her mother asking what was going on.

I think Robin Gazed Into the Abyss at this point and saw Isaiah turning Lucius. She tried to Keep her Cool, and with an 8, chose to go Unnoticed and Underestimated in this regard.

Isaiah: What did you do?

He knew something had happened, but wasn't sure what.

Robin started to say "I wanted to know what I was up against", but changed her mind.

Robin: I was just trying to get a better understanding of what you wanted.

Isaiah: This. <CHOMP>

Meanwhile, Iggy heard the front door close.

Iggy's Mother: Iggy -- are you home? Whose car is that out there?

Iggy tried to Run Away! With a total of 3 or 4, that didn't go so well! I'm not sure what did happen.

Somewhere around here, or perhaps a little earlier or later, I think, we took a quick break and the GM checked in with us. This is where Melissa said something about thinking she might have painted herself into a corner with Isaiah. We had about an hour left to go, and five players whose characters were currently divided into at least four groups. Shane, I think, reiterated the idea of looking at the session as if it were a series pilot. We had a whole lot of messy, feral threads, and we knew there was no way everything would be pulled together.

And... I find myself okay with that. We made false steps, sure, but we had agency. Shane was following the PCs, and not trying to herd them. And I think some of us were new to Monsterhearts, and perhaps PbtA games in general.

Back in the game, Robin came home to find her mother on the couch with a questioning look on her face.

Robin: Hey Mom!

She tried to walk to her room.

Robin's Mother: What were those -- you called me today.

Robin: I didn't.

Robin's Mother: Well... your phone called me today and I heard some very strange and disturbing things. Who's Isaiah?

Robin tried to convince her mother that it was just a study group.

Robin's Mother: Interesting study group.

Robin: I don't know what you heard, Mom, but there was nothing going on.

She tried to shut her mother down, With a 7, both got a Condition.

• Mother: Nosy
• Robin: Suspicious

GM: Where exactly does Isaiah live?

Isaiah's player: In a nice part of town -- upper middle class.

Isaiah got a text message from Lucius: We need to talk.

He told Isaiah to meet him at fountain that night at 8.

Isaiah: That sounds very suspicious.

He might have texted that. Certainly, he texted: Talk about what?

There was no response.

Isaiah: Do I see that the message was read?

GM: Sure.

Isaiah waited 5-10 minutess, then texted again: Just call me.

Lucius didn't.

Merrill decided to use the watch they'd taken. They were looking for revenge on John, and decided to hex him.

Merrill's player: -Going bald early -- especially when you're _on_ the football team...

So, where was Merrill's Sanctuary? The Witch got a +1 bonus for all spells cast there.

This is where I learned that there are no more basements in Southern California.than there are in new Orleans.

All right, then. Merrill's sanctuary was in the garage! Ti cast the hex, the player said, they used the watch to turn forward the time, just to make all John's hair fall out. But not all at once -- in a patchy check pattern. With an11 on the dice, Merrill's hex worked fine, although we didn't get to see this onscreen.

Levi followed Heidi, who went towards -- and then passed -- her house. In fact, she went to Merrill's house. More precisely, she wend into a shed on Merrill's family's property.

Levi filled Merrill in on this, and they went to the shed. It was locked, so Levi Lashed Out Physically, forcing the door open. (I had a total of 9.)

No one was inside the shed.

Puzzled, Merrill Gazeed Into the Abyss. The Witch had +2 Dark and a 12 on the dice for a total of 14. They had a vision of a windowless large facility with a high tech feel to it.

Iggy either got her mother to loan her her mother's car or told her mother that someone had loaned her his after an incident at school. I am not sure which as my notes are ambiguous?

Iggy locked herself in the bathroom, either being sick or claiming to be. Later, she packef Stefan's remaining body parts, along with an ice pack into a lunch box.

Isaiah met Lucius at the fountain.

Lucius: Isaiah, have you seen that guy, Stefan, anywhere?

Isaiah: You called me here to ask if I've seen Stefan?

Lucius: Yeah.

Isaiah: You arranged a meeting with me to ask if I've seen Stefan? Why don't you tell me what you _actually_ want?

He hypnotized Lucius. The result was the good old 7-9 range, which meant the player had to choose from a very short list of things that might go wrong. She decided that Lucius's sanity was unhinged.

Lucius said that he was worried about Stefan because Stefan had gone home with Iggy. He started crying.

Isaiah took Lucius in his arms.

Isaiah: Oh honey.

He bit Lucius and soothed the football player who then mad a pass at him. They had sex on the fountain.

Robin, looking for excuse to get out, decided to call Lucius, unaware that he was indisposed. Isaiah looked at the caller ID and then answered Lucius's phone.

Robin's player: Robin checks to see why my phone hates me because I assume I dialed the wrong number.

Robin: Oh Isaiah. How are you doing?

Isaiah: _Very_ well. Was there something I could help you with?

Robin: How is Lucius?

Isaiah: He's indisposed. *smacking sound*

And Robin became her Darkest Self.

Robin: How could you do this to me?

Isaiah: Do what?

Robin: Don't be coy with me!

Isaiah: I don't know what you're asking.

Robin: I offer you everything.

Isaiah: You do.

Robin: And you do this to me!

Isaiah: I have no obligations.

Iggy decided to go to Merrill, as Merrill had been there when she died. Alas, this, like whatever Robin might decide to do as her Darkest Self, would not be resolved.

Levi followed Heidi's scent in the shack to a spot on the floor and paused to see if Merrill actually wanted him to go further, as this was obviously something at least one of their parents was involved with. Merrill said they needed to kniw and the answers were down there.

Satisfied, Levi started digging as Merrill's father's car pulled in. Alas, the two students weren't paying much attention to anything besides the mystery they were trying to solve, and whether it was by bad rolls or GM fiat (I honestly forget which), they felt sudden sharp pains as everything faded to black.

And there we ended play, though we talked briefly before everyone dashed off to lunch or to another game. I gather that Merrill's parents were starting an army! Heidi and Iggy were part of that, even though they didn't realize it. And Merrill and Levi were likely next.