[Twilight Saga] When you try to win someone's heart...

I am messing about with two different Apocalypse World hacks. One is Twilight-inspired. Here is everything I have so far:

PITCH

a story about people and monsters, playing with one another's hearts and bodies.

MOVES

When you try to win someone's heart...
Roll +sway. On 10+, you win their heart and gain 3 Strings. On a 7-9, the MC will ask for a sacrifice. Make it, and you'll win their heart and gain 1 String. On a miss, they are betrothed to another.

PLAYBOOKS
Instead of just picking a class, you pick two elements.

The first is your whether you're a Werewolf, Vampire, Witch, Mortal or Marked. or, like, something like that.

The second is whether you're Vicious, Protective, Abstaining, Desperate, or whatever.

The first contains your moves. The second contains your sex move. Sex moves are probably not "when you have sex", but "when you do this particular sexual thing", like abstaining or tempting or taking or throwing yourself at someone.




That's all I got so far. Hot monsters getting emotionally entrenched and then hurting each other like woah.

The only way I can possibly support this is if I try very hard to pretend it is not Twilight inspired.

do this

yes

I'm not too sure about the "When you try to win someone's heart...", it seems too neat and simple for something I think would be central to the game. Then again, I dunno.

Is sway hard to get? Maybe that factors in.

But, still, interesting. I'd like to see where this goes.

First of all, I've come up with a title:

Monsterhearts
...wherein teenagers and monsters play with one another's hearts and bodies.

Shreyas: I am going to do this.
At first, it was a cute idea. Shit got real, though.

Fnord3125/Brian: Fuck you, this is a Twilight game. It's also inspired by all the other "teenagers are also monsters" stuff: Ginger Snaps, Christopher Pike's teen monster novels, etc, etc. Buffy as well.

Antisinecurist: Well, that's only half the move, really. Sway are then spent on particular things, like holds are in Apocalypse World.

Also, though, I was thinking: Instead of Hx, you can +/- the unspent strings you have on someone to help/interfere with them. Whoever has the most unspent strings held against you gets to highlight your stat.

Hey, go nuts, Joe.  I wouldn't stop you even if I could.  I feel that the Twilight books are pretty f'ing terrible, but I have no doubt at all in my mind that your hack based on them will be f'ing awesome.  So rock on.

With the new title and broader source list, I'm liking this idea so much more.

As I've told Joe before, this hack needs a move where you build up sway by treating someone badly, then use that as a bonus when you declare that you're actually in love with them.

Can we agree that Twilight and Buffy are polar opposites? Yeah? Okay, then I'm in, too.

Joe, shame on you! You are making that terribly-cliched rookie AW-hacker mistake that is all too common amongst rookie AW-hackers!

That's a scene-level move.

So, what, you just waltz in, bat your pretty lashes and pout, and BAM! Three strings, her heart is all yours, do what you will? No, no, no! When does that EVER happen to a PC in your source fiction?

You have to build it up one move and one string at a time. Like this:

When you try to win someone's heart, demonstrate your interest and roll+sway*
6 or less: You are disgusting! Eww, you creepy stalker!
7-9: You can get one string if you live up to it.
10+: You get one string, even if you ARE a creepy stalker!

So probably you have to live up to it, which might be another roll. But once you get that one string, you can use it to maneuver your lover-to-be into a situation where you get a bonus! And you tie another string to her heart, and then another, and another.

Maybe on a 12+ you can get two strings, but really 3 is too much. Unless maybe there are a bunch of easy ways that you can get rid of strings.

And if you really, really think 1 is too few, maybe there are ways to pull on those strings without losing them, hm? Or a move where you get an extra string, because you are sooo sexxxy that you even sparkle in the sunlight!


*What are your other stats? Shimmy, Shake, and Shout it Out Loud?

I mostly agree with Johnstone, yes.

Also, clearly (I mean, OBvioulsy, duh!) the sex move that Buffy has, and one of them Twilightors, prolly the chick, has is this:

Monstor-Fukkarrz!

The first time you and another character have sex, they turn evil overnight! Like they are possessed by some evil demon, they totally act like an asshole and a douche and they don't like you anymore and they try to kill you! I mean, like OMGWTFCIA!?!!!1!

What are your other stats? Shimmy, Shake, and Shout it Out Loud?

If they are, I will fully endorse this game even IF it is based on Twilight.  (not that my endorsement means jack shit to anyone, but still...)

That's a scene-level move.

Disagree.

You have to build it up one move and one string at a time. Like this:

[...]

Maybe on a 12+ you can get two strings, but really 3 is too much. Unless maybe there are a bunch of easy ways that you can get rid of strings.

Agree.

I mean, it really depends on what strings do, right? I originally imagined them being like holds, and most AW moves give you 0, 1 or 3 holds depending on how you roll.

Now, I'm seeing something different going on. Accumulating and manipulating strings is big time focal to the game.

Instead of Hx, you use your unspent strings as a bonus to help & interfere.
Instead of Hx, the person with most unspent strings highlights one of your stats.

You can spend strings to shake someone up, though I'm not sure how that works. Spend a String to: make something that they are doing count as Acting Under Fire, interfere with one of their moves even when you aren't there, carry +1 forward, make them carry -1 forward, etc.

I think there's a special move that lets you take strings against someone instead of wounding them, when you Seize By Force.

Hey, I know we're all having some fun at Twilite's expense, but seriously, the idea of a game about how close teenagers are to monstrous, and how emotions spill us into monstrous behavior, and how attractive teenagers are to allllllll kinds of stuff, and every.damn.thing.you.think.or.say at age 16 is fraught with double entendres, that's pretty rich.

So, back to the premise:

[Y]ou're a Werewolf, Vampire, Witch, Mortal, Marked or ??
Personally, I like the notion that PCs cannot play mortals, because so much of being a teenager is about feeling abnormal. They could still pine for, fall for, and get messed up with, regular mortals, because that's part of the longing to belong, to fit in, to connect that is very real for teens. I'd add Fairy, Troll, and Wraith instead of Mortal. Marked is cool because it gets at that 'set apart' that some kids feel they have.

[Y]ou're Vicious, Protective, Abstaining, Desperate or ??
In regards to sex, right? So add in Enthusiastic, Curious, and Playful, and that about covers the bases.

The first contains your [regular] moves. The second contains your sex move. Sex moves are probably not "when you have sex", but "when you do this particular sexual thing", like abstaining or tempting or taking or throwing yourself at someone.
I'm curious about this. So if I play a Fairy-type who is Abstaining sexually, then I get a PC with a different feel than if I play a Troll-type who is Abstaining. Or Werewolf Playful. Hmmm. Yeah, I can see it, but I'd want it to be about my sexuality in general, not just "when I do this particular sexual thing", unless you can explain your ideas there a bit more?

You'd still need a whole list of moves that are basic to the fraught teen experience, natch.

Hot monsters getting emotionally entrenched and then hurting each other like woah.
Whoa, baby!