The Fae

At the edges of this world, just beyond the veil, there are colours that few might even dream of. Beauty enough to shatter any heart. The fae live and breathe at the edges of this world. They keep a dusting of that magic tucked behind their ears, just in case.

And the fae are willing to share. They're nothing if not generous, asking for only one thing in return. A promise. Break it, and feel the wrath of faery vengeance.

Look

dainty, girlish, gaunt, mysterious, disheveled

quick eyes, lyrical eyes, mesmerizing eyes, laughing eyes, piercing eyes

fae born, fae blooded, adopted, touched with the gift, stole the gift

Stats

[Not that far along in the hack yet.]

Basic Moves

You get all the basic moves.

Fae Moves

You automatically get:

Faery Contract
If someone breaks or abandons a promise or contract made to you, they suffer 1 harm.

Also, choose 2:

The Constant Bargain
Whenever someone asks you to do something for them, and you do it, roll +[stat]. On a 10+, they lose one string on you, and you gain one on them. On a 7-9, choose one or the other. On a miss, you've proven that they can walk all over you, and they take another string on you.

The Wild Hunt
When you draw upon your most feral manner, perhaps echoing the movements of a cat or the voracity of a wolf, add +1 to your seduce roll.

Beyond The Veil
When you gaze into the abyss, you may also choose to: commune with the faery king; find a hidden String against someone.

Lure
Whenever someone makes a promise to you, they mark experience. Whenever someone breaks a promise to you, and you seek vengeance, mark experience.

Sex Move
When you lie naked with another, you can ask for a promise. If they refuse it, take 2 Strings against them.

Darkest Self
Everything you say is a promise. Everything you hear is a promise. If a promise is broken, justice must be wrought in blood. To let a promise slide counts as Acting Under Fire. To escape your Darkest Self, you must make a grim sacrifice in the name of faery.

Fuck. Yes.

Consider another screen licked. Mmmmmmmm.

Fuck. Yes.

Agreed. This is the shit here.

I remember you saying that the mortal's sex  move is going to be making the partner go into their darkest self, but did you say if there are other ways for that to happen?  I'm assuming there are, since not every game will include a mortal.

Oh wait: answering my own question, maybe.  Failing at looking into the abyss could cause you to go into your darkest self, right?  Is that how it's going to be?  Consequences of certain moves?

I remember you saying that the mortal's sex  move is going to be making the partner go into their darkest self, but did you say if there are other ways for that to happen?  I'm assuming there are, since not every game will include a mortal.

Oh wait: answering my own question, maybe.  Failing at looking into the abyss could cause you to go into your darkest self, right?  Is that how it's going to be?  Consequences of certain moves?

Failing certain moves gives you a hard choice: do X, or become your Darkest Self.
When the clock would strike midnight for your character, you can take your Darkest Self as a Condition to avoid harm. There are two Conditions in the game to alleviate harm: lose all Strings; Become your Darkest Self. They both reset at the start of every session.

I had always assumed you could just go voluntarily into your Darkest Self, but having it as a choice in moves is even better. I would have it on some of the 7-9 lists too, not just on a miss.

On the Fae: I think Faerie Contract needs more teeth/flavour. How about a Hold mechanic, where you can spend the Hold for +2 on rolls OR immediate harm OR <something else cool>?

Because like, if Franklin stands me up for our movie date, do I really just want to give him bad acne or have him twist his ankle? Or do I want to take +2 forward on my attempt to seduce Johnny, Franklin's best friend, because it will show Franklin how fragile his pathetic human bonds are, and also make him totally jealous OMG?

And even if I do want him to twist his ankle, wouldn't it be awesomer if I waited until later, right when he was about to drive into the endzone and win the Big Football Game in front of everybody? Timing is important for proper vengeance!

My stance on getting out of the Darker Self has already been described in the other thread, but 'dark pact with faerie' is just yawn compared to something involving the people the Faerie already loves and/or hates.

I had always assumed you could just go voluntarily into your Darkest Self, but having it as a choice in moves is even better. I would have it on some of the 7-9 lists too, not just on a miss.

On the Fae: I think Faerie Contract needs more teeth/flavour. How about a Hold mechanic, where you can spend the Hold for +1 on rolls OR immediate harm OR <something else cool>?

Because like, if Franklin stands me up for our movie date, do I really just want to give him bad acne or have him twist his ankle? Or do I want to take +2 forward on my attempt to seduce Johnny, Franklin's best friend, because it will show Franklin how fragile his pathetic human bonds are, and also make him totally jealous OMG?

And even if I do want him to twist his ankle, wouldn't it be awesomer if I waited until later, right when he was about to drive into the endzone and win the Big Football Game in front of everybody? Timing is important for proper vengeance!

You're a better fae than I am. This is golden.

The only issue is that this sounds just like how Strings work already - you earn them, and then you spend them later to fuck people up and fuck people over, or to buy stuff from them, or to make them do stuff you want them to do.

I think I probably need to write the "You can spend Strings to..." move really soon. However, while guessing at its content, I might revise the fae move to:

Faery Contract
If someone breaks a promise or contract made to you, take a String on them. When spending Strings to even out the score and get justice on a broken promise, add these options to the move: they fuck up something simple at a crucial moment; carry +2forward on an action that will hurt them; they suffer 1 harm, whether the cause is obvious or not.

The only issue is that this sounds just like how Strings work already - you earn them, and then you spend them later to fuck people up and fuck people over, or to buy stuff from them, or to make them do stuff you want them to do.

I think I probably need to write the "You can spend Strings to..." move really soon. However, while guessing at its content, I might revise the fae move to:

Faery Contract
If someone breaks a promise or contract made to you, take a String on them. When spending Strings to even out the score and get justice on a broken promise, add these options to the move: they fuck up something simple at a crucial moment; carry +2forward on an action that will hurt them; they suffer 1 harm, whether the cause is obvious or not.

Could this be used as a model for the different Skins? Maybe every Skin has a special thing they can spend String on, or a way of spending String they're particularly good at (achieving additional effects, or increased bonuses/penalties) -- as well as a particular way of gaining String, similar to the Fae's 'broken promises' thing.

That would be pretty cool if so.

Okay, so, random fae thought: Have you read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell? The portrayal of the Fae in that book is one of my favorites ever. In it the fae are just totally not human. They make the bargains, and they try to interact with people and pick out favorites, but it's just off.

One fae in particular has a favorite mortal for whom he tries to do all these favors. But a) they're Faerie ideas as to what favors are, and b) they always have unintended consequences and fallout.

So, maybe this isn't quite the right direction for a fae that can blend in, but I just love the notion of fae being dangerous not so much because of when they get mad as being dangerous because they're just so different and don't get it, such that even good intentions can be super threatening.

At the edges of this world, just beyond the veil, there are colours that few might even dream of. Beauty enough to shatter any heart. The fae live and breathe at the edges of this world. They keep a dusting of that magic tucked behind their ears, just in case.

And the fae are willing to share. They're nothing if not generous, asking for only one thing in return. A promise. Break it, and feel the wrath of faery vengeance.

Look

dainty, girlish, gaunt, mysterious, disheveled

quick eyes, lyrical eyes, mesmerizing eyes, laughing eyes, piercing eyes

fae born, fae blooded, adopted, touched with the gift, stole the gift

Stats

Hot +1, Cold +0, Steady -1, Volatile +2, Dark +1
Hot +1, Cold +1, Steady -1, Volatile +2, Dark +0
Hot +0, Cold +1, Steady -1, Volatile +2, Dark +1
Hot +1, Cold +1, Steady +0, Volatile +2, Dark -1

Basic Moves

You get all the basic moves.

Fae Moves

You automatically get:

Faery Contract
If someone breaks a promise or contract made to you, take a String on them. When spending a String to even out the score and get justice on a broken promise, add these options to the move: they fuck up something simple at a crucial moment; carry +2forward on an act of betrayal; they suffer 1 harm, whether the cause is obvious or not.

Also, choose 2:

The Constant Bargain
Whenever someone asks you to do something for them, and you do it, roll +Cold. On a 10+, they lose one string on you, and you gain one on them. On a 7-9, choose one or the other. On a miss, you've proven that they can walk all over you, and they take another string on you.

The Wild Hunt
When you draw upon your most feral manner, perhaps echoing the movements of a cat or the voracity of a wolf, add +1 to your turn someone on roll.

Beyond The Veil
When you gaze into the abyss, you may also choose to: commune with the faery king; find a hidden String against someone.

Lure
Whenever someone makes a promise to you, they mark experience. Whenever someone breaks a promise to you, and you seek vengeance, mark experience.

Sex Move
When you lie naked with another, you can ask for a promise. If they refuse it, take 2 Strings against them.

Darkest Self
Everything you say is a promise. Everything you hear is a promise. If a promise is broken, justice must be wrought in blood. To let a promise slide counts as Acting Under Fire. To escape your Darkest Self, you must re-balance the scale of justice.

So now I'm thinking about True Blood and how their fae-ness manifests as psychic powers. Any future in a psychic-mojo skin for MH? Do we have it somewhere already and I missed it?

Guilty admission: I have yet to watch True Blood. It's next after Buffy ends.

The Witch is the psychic/enchanter. They do their damage from afar, and via emotional stand-ins.

Vampires can probably do some mind-reading.

That's it so far.