Monsterhearts is available for preorder now, on IndieGoGo:



It's based on the Apocalypse World engine, which is why I'm posting this announcement, but it's grown into its own unique game. It's about the messy lives of teenage monsters, and it's designed to tell stories like those in True Blood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ginger Snaps, and yes, Twilight.

Click the image to check out the IndieGoGo preorder site.

So, Vampires and Werewolves aren't played out, but they're certainly well explored. Ghosts and witches, likewise.

Help me find the new sexiness, the Skin that's easy to envision but not already a supernatural drama trope.

The Ghoul is my attempt at a sexy zombie, a gorgeously disinterested psychopath. That's a bit of a departure from the norm, but it's still the focal character of Jennifer's Body. So: not new enough, I'm still on the prowl.

I'm working on something called The Hollow, which is all about being not real. Dawn, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is a hollow. Mimics and dopplegangers and amnesiacs are all hollows. Carrie might be a witch, or she might be a hollow - her actions are so non-intentional and sporadic that she might be a hollow.

What else could exist?

Angels? Shamans/Mediums/Psychics/Channelers? Dreamwalkers? Merfolk?

When you love Apocalypse World, roll +cool.

Luxe Eternal is a fanzine for Apocalypse World. The first issue is going to be released near the end of April. It's quite likely that I'll release another issue 3 months after that.

Luxe Eternal is going to be the home of:

• new custom playbooks
• pretty maps
• thoughtful dissection of AW principles and play
• con scenarios
• custom moves
• fan art and fan fiction

If you're interested in submitting for Luxe Eternal, here's the deal:

1.) Priority goes to things that are being released exclusively via Luxe Eternal.

2.) Each accepted submission is worth 1-barter. 1-barter is the going rate for: a PDF issue. 3-barter is the going rate for: a print issue.

3.) As editor, I'll be working with you to make sure that your piece is polished, of the right length, and of the right tenor for inclusion in Luxe Eternal. Generally, we don't want articles longer than 750 words, nor maps bigger than a half-letter (portrait) page.

4.) With custom playbooks, you have the option to submit it unformatted/without illustration, or formatted/with illustration. If submitted unformatted, I'll format it and work with you to create a playbook illustration.

5.) With everything else, I'll be formatting it and laying it out.

6.) I'm not sure how much the fanzine will cost, per issue. I'd like it to be enough to make 30-50 cents an issue, after printing & paypal fees & packaging & shipping. My best guess, at the moment, is that it'll work out to $3 per copy, or $1 per PDF.

6a.) The reason I want to make coin is because otherwise my incentive for keeping up the work is very low.

TO SUBMIT: Email me at mcdaldno(AT)gmail(DOTT)com, or reply here.

So, Vincent released a new Apocalypse World playbook: The Hoarder.

For those who're interested, it's part of a rad $10 charity bundle (which also includes Perfect Unrevised, btw): here.

This is one of my favourite playbooks yet. Of all the special-release playbooks (Maestro D', Faceless, Quarantine, Hoarder), I'm most excited about The Hoarder.

I'm a little unthrilled about A Spoonful of Sugar, mostly because I don't get an immediate sense of how to use it - how the mechanics lead into the fiction, or the fiction leads into the mechanics. I guess it's only for use in circumstances where you're bribing the guards in order to help your friend sneak into the fort, etc, etc... but either way it seems like a scene-level move, and not an action-level move.

If I were to play a Hoarder, I'd be tempted to take Acquisitive Eye and Appraising Eye, along with the stat-block that gives me Sharp+2. The idea of simply reducing the world to a collection of objects, of seeing every situation and every opponent as a cache of  valuables... so good.

Dear [Steve Hickey, Chris, NilsH, Paul T, Nathan Wilson, John Harper, Neon Fox],

I am so excited to see so many hands on deck, helping me work on Monsterhearts. Its really moving.

And so I want to give you people a thank you present. Private Message me your email address if you'd like a copy of the Perfect Unrevised PDF or the Gun Thief PDF - your choice of which.

Thanks,
Joe Mcdaldno

So, I'm going to ask a couple questions, then follow them up with some AP.

How explicit are the sex scenes, when you play Apocalypse World?
What factors change the level of detail you go into?
Do some players get weirded out? How do you handle that?
What's the sexiest sex scene that's come out of play?
What makes for the most fun sex scenes?

For me, I MC'd a one-shot of Apocalypse World last night, and it had my favourite sex scene that I've yet had in AW.

As background:
The apocalypse happened when the earth rose up and swallowed the cities, fighting back against the humans. Now, some humans attempt to rebuild their concrete fortresses, and some attempt to co-exist with nature. Vega is a hardholder (played by Ben) who's chosen to try and coexist with nature, living in little stilted huts poised over some Florida marshlands.

Vega's taking his wounded friend Barker over to White's hardhold, because they actually have a competent medic over there. Vega's a shrewd character who always seems to be weighing the cost/benefit analysis of things in the back of his mind.

The Scene Prior:
Vega and his (I say his, but Vega's gender was ambigious. Throughout play, Vega seemed to emerge as a concealed/androgynous male)  men approach White's hardhold: a series of big-box stores along a highway. Two of White's snipers appear, guns trained upon Vega's people. Shortly thereafter, a gang of bikers circle Vega's people - White in the lead.

The reason she's called White is readily apparent: she steps off a white bike, removes her white helmet, and calmly walks over. She looks incredibly sexy in that white leather outfit.

White's all about ostentatious shows of power, even though she's keen and calculating beneath the surface. She's not going to heal Vega's buddy for free - she demands a hefty tribute of those psychedelic mushrooms from the marshlands, as well as some bodies for the slave trade (which she refers to, rather coldly, as "units"). Alright. The deal is struck. White points her gun (painted white, of course) skyward, and fires off a couple rounds to "seal the deal."

The Sex Scene:
After making sure Barker is attended to, Vega asks to speak with White privately. White's definitely willing to oblige him. She leads them into a small meeting room (about the size of a walk-in closet). She's got her back to the door, and places her hand on the wall next to Vega, leaning in towards him. She's taller than he is, more confident than he is, and more assertive than he is.

Vega suggests that White's in a position to offer his holding some protection, but Ben intones this in such a way as to imply that White has personal power over him. Ben glances at the Hardholder's special move. We're of one mind about this.

White gives him a half smirk, leaning one shoulder in closer coyly. "What, a big thing like you needs a little girl like me to protect you?" I reiterate the fact that White is taller than Vega now, hoping to stress that White is turned on by power differentials.

Vega says something else about her holding's might, again with the double entendres that suggest to White that she could take him at any moment. White kicks the door shut behind her, without looking. With the hand that she had placed next to Vega's head, she takes out her gun. She holds it in the narrow space between them for a second, before placing its hilt (and her fist) on his shoulder, snub barrel pointed at the wall he's leaning on.

She says something, taunting and playful, but also deeply predatory. He gives some form of consent, and it's clear they're not negotiating a protection racket anymore. They're deciding how rough its going to be when White pins Vega to the floor.

This is my favourite part: with the gun next to Vega's ear, still, White fires a shot into the wooden wall behind him. "Vega, she's testing you here. She's testing whether or not you can handle the heat." Ben has to roll to keep it together, to see if he's man enough for a woman like White. He rolls a 7-9, and I offer him an ugly choice: "if you don't flinch away, that shot is going to deafen you." Vega wants White more than he's ever wanted anything. And so he resists the urge to flinch.

"You experience the aural equivalent of blinding white light. But the rest of your senses don't care. And this is when she takes you."

The three of us at the table are smiling, pleased at this scene. "What's your sex move?" We deal with interpreting the hardholder's 1 free barter thing, and then I skip over the actual sex and pick back up with:

"White stands up first, gets dressed first, and walks back to the door first. As she does so, she points her gun skyward and fires off another shot - her little way of 'sealing the deal,' remember? But - you can't hear the shot, and it's then the the flush leaves your face and you realize that your hearing is absolutely, 100% gone."

---

I was pleased with this level of detail. I don't know if it translates to the screen or not, but we were all in agreement that the scene was sexy and good. I'm glad we didn't narrate the actual sex, as narrating sex is kind of like narrating parkour: nearly impossible to translate that sort of action and retain what's cool about it. The gunshot next to Vega's ear was my favourite moment in the game. White was my favourite NPC - a flashy, predatory, cold-as-ice badass.

So, yeah. That's my answer to a bunch of those questions up top. How about you?

Alright, this is in response to some very helpful prompting from Paul T. I've been kinda sparse in my replies to this forum lately - since December 20th, I've been on the road, couch surfing without a laptop of my own. That'll be the case until February 8th.

Anyways, on to the Darkest Self. First, some clarifications:

WHO?

The player controls their own character when at their Darkest Self. The only exception is The Infernal, because possession is their shtick (and that's likely to change).

The player is in charge of interpreting their Darkest Self text, and deciding what specific actions and behaviors are implied therein. Some (The Ghoul, The Witch, The Chosen) imply some very concrete actions and behaviors, and others (The Fae, The Mortal, The Vampire) are open to a wider range of interpretation. Its up to the player to interpret, but the MC and other players should hold that player accountable... if someone isn't playing up their Darkest Self when it's active, point it out and encourage them to go darker.

Ultimately, if someone isn't stoked on playing their character's Darkest Self with relish, then this game is at a disconnect with them.

WHAT?

When you are your Darkest Self, you should play it hard.  Go for the jugular. Do some serious damage. Leave wreckage. You should do this not because the Darkest Self is your punishment for bad decisions, but because playing in that self-destructive space is fun and liberating. You should enjoy playing your Darkest Self.

You are free to play it conflicted, though. You are free to start pursuing your escape clause the moment you become your Darkest Self - so long as you're also playing up your Darkest Self.

LIKE WHAT?

John Harper is playing as Anne. Anne is a witch in her early 20s. She wants desperately to be known as the moody, angsty kid. And she's doing a fairly good job of telegraphing that desire to the world - bangs over her eyes, constantly being mopey, making snide comments to all the d-bags of the world.

Anne meets Satan, and asks him for his number. Satan doesn't use phones, but he gives her a business card for Eclipse, a nightclub that Anne's never heard of before. She plans to show up and meet him there, later that night.

But later on in the afternoon, before showing up at Eclipse, Anne's Darkest Self is triggered. The witch's Darkest Self is all about hexing anyone who slights her, and having the hexes be unsettlingly powerful. She gets super vengeful with anyone who tries to stand in her way.

When she shows up, there's a vampire bouncer in the entranceway. But he's preoccupied with draining a victim dry. WTF, right?! Anne's freaked out by this, as she's never watched someone die, and I ask her to keep it together. Even though she's her Darkest Self, the rest of the body of mechanics still apply. She gets a 7-9, I think, and the result is that she's shocked and shaken. The bouncer finishes draining his prey, and turns to her. Sizing her up, he says, "Maybe you should go." I'm wondering if this counts as a slight, but John thinks its not, yet. "It's pretty good advice, to be honest, and I'm sort of thinking the same thing." Fair. Anne disregards the vamp's good advice, and enters the club.

There's demons and scary things! Anne is out of her element and spooked, but she's also her Darkest Self. The way that plays out is that she's on edge, ready to lash out and hurt anyone who questions her. She sits down and orders a drink, and starts rethinking the situation with the vampiric bouncer. John's narrating this inner monologue that Anne's having, where she's slowly working herself up to the decision that she's going to put him in his place before leaving.

Across the club, Anne spots an ex-boyfriend. That one who just disappeared one day, without saying goodbye. He's surrounded by a bevvy of sexy ladies. She walks up, and essentially picks a fight with him. She's baiting him with passive aggressive remarks, waiting for him to slight her. And he does. And so she casts Illusions on him, making him see aggressive demonic visages everywhere. But when a witch is at her Darkest, her hexes all have crazy powerful side effects. So, the three women surrounding this ex simply burst into actual demons, their skin rupturing to expose disgusting shades of goopy flesh and knotty sinew beneath. The demons have him pinned inside a booth, and they begin the slow work of cutting him up, cackling, torturing him to death. Whoops.

A situation like that is obviously enough to draw Satan's attention. "Ah, Anne," he calls, approaching. He looks bemused, watching the squiggly demons make short work of some random mortal boy. "What a pleasure to see you."

Satan asks why Anne came. She's on edge, just looking for a reason to pick a fight with him. He explains that he's not interested in catching "small fish," and so if she's not here for something big, she'd best leave. She makes some demands, requests some powers. Satan makes his counter-demands. He's happy to hand her raw power. He just wants the soul of her father, in exchange.

Anne is disgusted that he would even think that could ever, like, even possibly be a fair, like, deal. And so she hexes Satan in his own club. She casts Ring of Lies upon him. Since she's at her Darkest Self, her hexes are all insanely powerful and have horrendous side effects. So I make a quick decision: instead of the hex applying whenever he lies, it applies whenever he says something unholy. Being the devil, this is always.

Satan starts to speak, and freezes, confused. He starts again, and then stops. Blood is running from inside his nose. He starts again, and something inside his head must rupture, because he collapses in a heap.

Anne doesn't escape her Darkest Self this session - she doesn't even try to seek out ammends. As far as actual game time goes, she was her Darkest Self for about 1 hour of gameplay. As far as scenes go, she was her Darkest Self for 2-3 scenes.

John didn't play the Darkest Self "to the nines" or anything - he was pretty subdued about it. But Anne did hex Pierce, kill a former lover, and kill Satan. She worked herself into a rage, where she was willing to take down everyone in that club, if anyone dared step up to her. So, excellent.