In the rulebook, McDaldno states that Monsterhearts doesn't necessarily have to take place in a high school setting, so long as the characters feel alienated from both others and their own bodies, and there is a milieu of petty social politics. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone out there had switched the setting up, and what came of it. I thought of a couple of examples.

College: This one, I think, is pretty obvious. It's like high school but with both fewer and more restrictions. For a lot of teens it's their first taste of freedom. If you don't want to go to class one day, you can skip it, and the only one getting hurt will be yourself. There's frat parties to attend (and get drunk at for the first time), causes to champion (and realize how apathetic the wider world can be), co-ed dorms to explore (and getting honest with those other feelings you had to keep tamped down in that small town you came from)...

After the End: It's finally happened. The bombs have been dropped, the cities are in ruins, everything you knew and loved is gone baby gone. Can a gaggle of monstrous teens survive? What does it mean to be a monster when the social order that would normally keep you in hiding has been wiped out? Plus, when your characters grow up, you can just start playing Apocalypse World with the same setting. Maybe the Queen becomes the Hardholder or the Witch the Hocus. Fun.

Nursing Home: It's a bit peculiar, yes, but a lot of the same themes still apply. A bunch of people stuck together, their bodies changing in ways they never approved of. And all that history. How do you deal with suddenly being under the power of authority figures a lot younger than you? In horror films, having sex usually means you're going to die, but now you've got to deal with weak hearts as well? If there are forever-17 vampires out there, then surely there's got to be at least one whose forever 70. And if Mildred from across the hall finds out, what's more likely? That she's going to be believed, or that the staff will just up her medication?

Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House (sic): Getting clean is hard. The theory is that getting clean with a fellowship of other people trying just as hard to get clean in a milieu of mutual support should make it all the more easier, but who wants to live with former junkies? It seems to be working for Tony though. He looks great. He says that his life really turned around once he discovered his Higher Power, so I guess the program really does work. Maybe he should take Constance under his wing. Whatever she'd been doing it's left her skin really pale. Almost translucent, really...

School for Exceptional Children: I worry this one might change the themes of the game too much, not having to hide your true nature anymore, but really that only applies on school grounds, n'est-ce pas? Suddenly the Fury doesn't feel so alone anymore, but the Vampire was perfectly fine being a big fish in a small pond thank you very much. Being surrounded by other teens who are just as monstrous as you might be freeing, or it might be frustrating that suddenly you have to deal with people who know just what you're all about and won't take your shit. There's still weird romance to be found between Haunting 101 and AP Pledgecraft, though what I really want to know is: who decided to put all these monsters together in first place and why?

I was wondering if anyone here had played a Vampire who did not have the move The Feeding, and if so, how did you play it? Did they still feed on blood but not gain any advantage from it? Did they not have to feed on anything at all? What does it mean to be a vampire that isn't both a metaphorical and literal drain on people?

Thought of a new move today.

I Want To Believe: Whenever someone discovers a hidden truth about you, roll with Cold. On a 10+, choose one:

• Mark experience.
• Take a String on them.
• Give them the Condition Terrified.
  

On a 7-9, you can also choose one from the list above, but also choose one from this list:

• They gain a String against you.
• You gain the Condition abomination.
• You become your Darkest Self.

Well, it's not just about making friends, and it's not just for use on NPCs either. It's about getting people to take notice of you. You could use it on one of your friends so that they're really impressed by whatever you're doing as an opening for a manipulation roll.

Some notes on the move:

• Making an impression is similar to turning someone on in that you don't have to be actively trying to do it. Maybe you just say that when you get called up to the board in math class to do a geometry proof, you solve it with such elegance and panache that the resident Alpha Nerd can't help but be impressed.
• Making an impression could quite easily turn into turning someone on, or vice versa. When you choose to do one, the MC is encouraged from time to time to ask if that's what's really going on.
• I was originally going to make giving the subject a Condition an option, but that turned into the +1 forward. Less messy that way. (Though maybe messy is better? Condition: Awe-struck. Inspired. Devotee. Whatever seems appropriate.) I suppose you can take the String you get from the move and turn it into a Condition, therefore making their private admiration of you public.

Example of Play:

Szandor the Serpentine's family wants him to bring Kalima the Ghoul to their next Special Gathering to honor Wadjet, because they believe the necromantic energy she exudes will please the cobra goddess. Kalima is another PC, so Szandor can't manipulate her into coming. Past experience has taught him that she's basically immune to scare tactics, so shutting her down probably isn't going to work. He could try seducing her but she's kind of creepy and Szandor doesn't want to risk getting that anywhere near his snake junk. So he decides that he needs to make himself look super-cool in her eyes. He's going to make an impression on her. At lunch, he asks if he can sit with her (already a draw he figures, because no one ever does) and makes witty banter, building off her snipes, gossiping about the art teacher's weird habits, all those adolescent pleasantries. He rolls with Hot, and gets a 3 and a 6. With his Hot score of +1, that's an easy 10. Super. He chooses to gain a String on her as Kalima's player describes how she's impressed by the snake boy's way with words. He then spends that String to get her to come to his family's Special Gathering because that would just be killer, and he thinks she'd love it. Kalima accepts, marks XP for the String, and soon the dark ritual will be complete.

Greetings friends and shadows on the wall,

Have you ever felt like you just don't fit in with everyone else? No one wants to be your friend, or maybe you do have friends but you always feel yourself pushed to the outer limits of the group. And everyone's always talking about you behind your back, making up all these nasty rumors about you, just because that one summer all your neighbor's dogs 'mysteriously vanished' like you could have possibly had anything to do with that. And then there was the time that you were at Stephanie's house and then the mixtape her boyfriend gave her wouldn't play anymore and now she thinks you did it on purpose so there goes that friendship. If people would just get to know you, they'd see you're not that scary. They'd see you're just a normal human being, just like them, and you totally don't hear secret messages on the radio from distant stars and that creepy mask you have is just for an art project and oh God they brought a camera why do they have a camera no no no no NO NO N?????????????????????????????????O???????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????N????????????????????????????O?????????????????????? ???????????????????????????N???????????????O????????????????????????? ???????????????????N?????????????????????????????????Ò???????????????????????????????? ?????????????????S??????????????????????????????????T????????????????????????????????????????P???????????????????????

Introducing The Enigma:

Inscrutable, mysterious, troubled, weird. The Enigma is a social pariah wrapped in urban legend. You're weird and creepy in a way that just sets other people off. Animals too, sometimes. But beyond the standard teenage bitchiness, you have good reason for keeping others at bay. You've got a dark secret; you see, there really are terrible things out there, darkling creatures that lurk in the woods, under the bed, in spaces that aren't. And, the weirder things get, the more you're pretty sure you're one of them.

Name

Anna, Burton, Indrid, Jay, Leeland, Maia, Penelope, Quade, Tim, Z

An odd-sounding name, a completely plain name, a foreign name, an obviously fake name

Look

hunched, gaunt, pallid, disheveled, off

empty eyes, piercing eyes, deep eyes, dark eyes, shifty eyes

Origin

the vengeful dead, demonic presence, from elsewhere, thing that should not be, lost time, wearing a mask

Stats

Hot -1 Cold 1 Volatile -1 Dark 1

Moves

(At this point I must confess that I have not finished all of The Enigma, though any feedback on what I do have is much appreciated.)

You get this one, and choose one more:

Urban Legend: There is a gruesome, unsettling, horrifying, or just plain creepy rumor going around about either you or the persona you adopt. Detail it. Whenever you act in a way that plays up the legend, add 1 to your roll.
Any time you take an advancement, you may also add, subtract, or change one detail of your Urban Legend.

Wake Up Number 37: You can gaze into the abyss on another character's behalf. You make all the choices but they get the results.

Inscrutable: When you manipulate an NPC with the Condition terrified, roll with Cold.

Always Watching: In any scene in which you are not present, you can roll with Dark. On a 10+, you're suddenly there, with or without an explanation. On a 7-9, you can appear only if you spend a String on someone present.