So, Hive Queen.

Cool things:
-infection
-symbiotism
-drones
-disgusting body horror
-hatchlings

I'm not sure that it's in-genre enough, though. Gah.

Hey,

Margolotte. I dunno how many exactly. Somewhere around the same amount as AW has? 8-12, say.

I love how you grouped Fae/Elemental/Angel, Ghoul/Homunculus/Lich, and then gave both groupings a sweet little line to tie them together. Nice work.

I think my current list is:
Fae
Ghoul
Vampire
Werewolf
Witch
Ghost
Infernal
Hive Queen
Mortal

Quote from: mcdaldno on July 27, 2010, 10:33:09 AM

So there's that. And there's the principle that Acceptance Is Never 100%, and that Happiness Is Always At Someone Else's Expense.

And maybe that, coupled with a bunch of horny and violent teenage monsters, is all the motivation that there needs to be?

Given that these are teenagers, you might wish to add People Always Leap To The Worst Possible Conclusion.  How many times on one of these shows has someone been like, "I'm not sure I can meet you tomorrow night," and the person they're talking to goes, "What?  WHY DO YOU SUDDENLY HATE ME?!"

Yes. That's awesome.

Thank you.
Included.

Hey Sanglorian, cool!

Currently, there is a combination of barter+Hx+holds. It's called Strings. You get your fingers wrapped around their heart-strings, and suddenly you have a lot of power over what they do, what they don't do, and how they are feeling.

So there's that. And there's the principle that Acceptance Is Never 100%, and that Happiness Is Always At Someone Else's Expense.

And maybe that, coupled with a bunch of horny and violent teenage monsters, is all the motivation that there needs to be?

So, I scrapped the Style+Type way of generating characters. Everyone picks their skin (Mortal, Vampire, Witch, etc) and that's that.

Skins have: descriptors, stats, special moves, a sex move, and a darkest self.
While you select your descriptors, stats & moves (just like in AW), each skin has exactly one sex move and one darkest self.

Here's what the Darkest Self is - it's a dark and awful thing that you can become. Not just a monstrous teenager, but a true monster. The worst possible fate for your kind.

While you are your Darkest Self, you are locked into a set of instincts and impulses. To do otherwise is Acting Under Fire.

There's an escape clause: something that gets you back into normal mode. Maybe it's hurting a loved one, sacrificing strings, isolating yourself, going too far, confronting your past, etc, etc. Something that brings you face-to-face with what you want least.

For example, when a Werewolf is its Darkest Self, maybe it can only interact with others if it Seizes By Force or Threatens (Goes Aggro). Like all Darkest Selves, you can Act Under Fire to try to momentarily bypass this rule. To escape your Darkest Self, you must isolate yourself until the sun rises once again.

Here's why I thought of this, and why I merged style+class:
The Mortal's sex move is to trigger their partner's Darkest Self. OMG, right?!

Questions:

1. Does this sound fun?
2. Is this too prescriptive?
3. Does this emulate the whole "you thought I was a monster before, but now I'm a REAL monster!" plot point that seems to rear its head in this genre?
4. What are some possible Darkest Selves for different Skins?

I'm using the second one. That's amazing.

Ah, see, what I was thinking of was X-Men. You have some power and everyone will hate and fear you if they find out, but you can pass.

So, on the topic of X-Men: Rogue is allowed to be a Monsterhearts character. Logan is borderline eligible, depending on who's writing and drawing him at the time. Everyone else is not allowed to be Monsterhearts characters.

Just so we're clear.

I think that "you have some power and everyone will hate and fear you if they find out" is not a niche for the Mutant; that's the basis for every single character type, with the exception of the Mortal, who is "you have some dangerous friends and everyone will hate and shun you if they find out."

Also, Alien seems like it ought not to be on the list, but maybe...

See, it stands out on the list like a sore thumb, but:


The Faculty is absolutely a genre staple.

Though, The Faculty isn't about aliens, it's about people infected with a space virus.

There are a couple other movies about how sexual tension gets even messier when a shape-changing alien space virus is involved, but I forget what they are, at the moment.

I think Alien might work if it were either about being in control of an inhuman swarm (Hive Queen, Spider, Spawn, Spawn Lord, etc), or was about being touched by the darkness of space (Abducted, Infected, Star-Touched, Celestial, Voidling).

Thoughts?

Agree that some things on the list had too much cross-over. If you have Demon, you don't need Possessed. Ghost and Wraith are the same thing. So on. I was just brainstorming.

With Lich, I was going for animated-beyond-death. Lich, Ghoul, Wraith. Basically, a mummy/skeleton/zombie that rocks the anorexic chic look, with stark white skin. What to call this? Why to include this?