Are there skins to fit these archetypes?

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DannyK

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Are there skins to fit these archetypes?
« on: December 20, 2012, 02:52:16 PM »
I'm just reading through Monsterhearts and there's a few archetypal characters that I'd like to incorporate into play but I'm not sure if they are already represented:

--The occultist.  I know there's a Witch, but I'm thinking more of Wizard -- a character like a young John Constantine, a young Harry Dresden or an Alceister Crowley wannabe, somebody with a little knowledge and maybe access to more who has a strong ambition and little caution.  Motivated by arrogance and curiosity and insecurity.  I guess you could do this with the Infernal skin, sort of.  Or play up the crumbling-dynasty and occult lore aspects of the Serpentine.  But then you've got an arrogant occultist kid who's ALSO a secret snake-person. 

--The foreign kid.  Specifically, the first-generation immigrant torn between family and peers, the old ways and the new ways.  The old ways might or might not include a family tradition of demon-hunting or being the reincarnation of a legendary Tibetan warrior.   I suppose you could do this with the Serpentine or the Vampire, if you want to use being a monster as metaphor for multiculturalism.  Or just pick the Chosen and give them immigrant status and a related backstory.

-The demigod.  I just thought of this because I liked those Percy Jackson books about the kids who are all the children of Greek gods.  Parts of the books are very Harry Potter, but some parts especially of the later ones are like Monsterhearts for tweens.  The emotional heart of the books is the characters dealing with the fact that they're misfits in modern society, and that the secret society of Greek Gods behind the scenes doesn't really have any use for the Demigods except as cannon fodder, and, very occasionally, as prestige items. 

Any suggestions on how to best create these archetypal characters in Monsterhearts?  I'd rather not make my own skins if I can avoid it, being a lazy gamer.

Re: Are there skins to fit these archetypes?
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2012, 07:20:06 PM »
John Constantine rarely falls back on magic himself. He'd do just fine as a Chosen with some Other Skin moves. Dresden comes pretty close to fitting that, too. He's got Bob for To The Books and seems to get the backlash in every Final Showdown (although he seems to take a huge amount of harm before that, too). Anything closer than that would need its own Skin. Might be a fun one to work on.

Same goes for the foreign kid, really.

Demigod is more of a Backstory than a full Skin. I could see particular justifications for one as a Queen, Ghoul, Fae, even a werewolf.

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DannyK

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Re: Are there skins to fit these archetypes?
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2012, 02:08:38 AM »
I'm watching a TV show on Netflix called The Elephant Princess right now, with the premise that a teenage girl, when she turns 16, suddenly discovers that she has magic powers because she's actually the heir to the throne of a fairytale kingdom who's been stashed on Earth for safekeeping.  The show revolves around her balancing her normal life with learning her powers and occasional jaunts into the fairytale kingdom. 

It's funny how many of these shows fit into the Monsterhearts paradigm -- Joe should really make a cut-down version of the game minus the sex moves for the tween crowd.  It would be a big hit. 

Re: Are there skins to fit these archetypes?
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2012, 08:06:53 AM »
If you're looking for a 'foreign kid' archetype, have you seen the R?k?asa??

Link here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YkCZgw7bMdgy-5ynXUR0gGsO3RoNyof_zX72jaV6vjI/edit

Re: Are there skins to fit these archetypes?
« Reply #4 on: December 22, 2012, 08:30:38 PM »
The Infernal is spot-on for the occult character. "a little knowledge and maybe access to more who has a strong ambition and little caution" describes them perfectly. Infernals depend on having a direct link to a powerful demon/power and their story is one of losing control and drowning in power.

The Immigrant can be done really well with The Serpentine (caught between the old world and the new is like the Serpentine's whole deal!), and The R?k?asa? is a pretty cool skin that also does exactly this.

Unsure what you'd use for Demigods.