The Mortal

The Mortal
(click the title to see a PDF version)

none of them would understand. what you have here, in this dark and secret place, it’s beautiful. they’d warn you that this sort of beauty is dangerous, like a raging fire. well, some things are worth getting burnt for.

love has eclipsed all hope. and the dark has left you feeling beautiful.

look

quiet, desperate, awkward, beautiful, displaced

doe eyes, sad eyes, darting eyes, nervous eyes, human eyes

new kid in town, kid next door, your barista, someone’s girlfriend, someone’s boyfriend, nobody

stats

hot 1, cold -1, steady 0, volatile 2, dark 1
hot 1, cold 0, steady -1, volatile 2, dark 1
hot 2, cold -1, steady -1, volatile 2, dark 0
hot 1, cold 1, steady -1, volatile 2, dark 0

Mortal moves

you automatically get this one:

true love
you always have exactly one lover. the first is chosen during “your backstory.” if you ever fall in love with someone else instead, give them a String and they become your new lover. several moves target or involve your lover - these apply regardless of who your lover is, and whether you’re actually in a relationship with them.

also, choose two:

mess with me, you mess with him
when you use your lover’s name as a threat, you automatically succeed at trying to keep it together. your lover gains a String on you.

sympathy is my weapon
every time you forgive someone for hurting you, and excuse their base nature, take a String on them.

excuses are my armor
when you ignore a blatant problem, mark experience.

want to be wanted
whenever someone takes a String on you for the first time, you both mark experience. if it’s an NPC, only you mark experience.

downward spiral
when you gaze into the abyss, you may cause yourself 1 harm. if you do, add 2 to your roll.

your backstory
The Mortal always declares their backstory last.
declare one person to be your lover. you may take Strings that others have on you, and give them to your lover.

sex move
when you get what you want, sexually, carry 1forward.

Darkest Self
nobody understands you, or even wants to. they’d rather you disappear. well, you’re not going to disappear. you’re going to make life a living hell for them. you’ll betray the wicked to the judges, the weak to the executioners. you’ll pit humans and supernaturals against one another, until everyone looks like monsters. only seeing the pain that you’re causing your lover will let you escape your Darkest Self.

I'm looking forward to seeing this in play (I'm starting to arrange a session now).

Looking at the Mortal's backstory reminds me: Hx has a limit of +4 or -4, after which you mark experience and reset to 0. With Strings, there's no upper limit to the number of Strings you can have on somebody, right?

Correct, Steve. The sky's the limit.

Good luck with your session!

Feel free to start a thread if you have any questions about the game!

I like it. Sympathy is my weapon is perfect.

How come the mortal always has high Volatile?

/ Nils

Good question, NilsH.

The answer is that I've already revised that. At first, I didn't know what to do with The Mortal's stats.

Now, her two highest are Hot and Steady. The Mortal is good at turning people on, and then sticking around for the abusive bullshit that's sure to follow.

when you get what you want, sexually, carry 1 forward.

If what you want sexually is abstinence?

Quote

when you get what you want, sexually, carry 1 forward.

If what you want sexually is abstinence?

Make sure your true love has a really good reason to want sex.

Quote

when you get what you want, sexually, carry 1 forward.

If what you want sexually is abstinence?

Good question, Chris. I think Neon Fox hit pretty close to the mark, here.

As an MC, if a Mortal at my table where to say that what she (or he) wanted sexually was abstinence, I'd probably make a judgment call and suggest that "get what you want" means actively getting what you want - turning down sexual advances, etc.

But, if what you want sexually is abstinence, you should be playing a Vampire. Mortals are all about letting themselves get hurt and hoping they get what they want out of the exchange. Mortals are about letting the Werewolf take you forcefully, hoping that they let you come first. Etc.

It's not to say that it won't work, but Mortals are incredibly bad at saying no, and incredibly good at letting the wrong ones in. So to speak.

But, if what you want sexually is abstinence, you should be playing a Vampire. Mortals are all about letting themselves get hurt and hoping they get what they want out of the exchange. Mortals are about letting the Werewolf take you forcefully, hoping that they let you come first. Etc.

It's not to say that it won't work, but Mortals are incredibly bad at saying no, and incredibly good at letting the wrong ones in. So to speak.

I meant more the Character me instead of the Player me. So like I'm a Mortal, sure, and I've got this thing going with a Ghoul and we decide a hunger for flesh isn't like zombies, but like... you know, flesh.

So the Player me is all like, Yeah, my Mortal dude, he's religious and he's saving himself for Jesus, but the ghoulchick I know, she died and came back with a need for ... flesh. Or whatever.

So the player me, again, I know my dude is ... screwed; mechanically, I'm done. The character is going to give in and then the ghoul is gonna want it all the time and then I'm going to fall in love with another girl, a chaste/still alive one I met at church camp and so my strings go to her, but the ghoul decides to kill her, but this particular ghoul is about getting flesh, and so seduces my love, fulfilling her hunger and maybe killing her and then I hate the ghoul and it's a whole thing. Ha. Melodrama Snowballs. :)

I was more asking if abstinece was allowed as a "what you want". I realize that mechanically, it's not the best, but I think it could still work out and lead to a cool story.

That example is excellent. "and it's a whole thing." Ha!

Yeah, it's a legit and sub-optimal thing to want.

As the MC, I'd be asking provocative questions and looking to figure out if that's what the character really wants. Like, maybe your saved-for-jesus character really wants to get fucked, but doesn't want to go to hell for it. "Getting fucked while still being absolved of sin" is much more interesting than "abstinence," and I'd be angling to unearth something like that.

In one game I played, Ben's Mortal was named Grace. And Grace was a good girl! She loved her boyfriend Pierce, but wouldn't throw her virginity away just because she loves a guy. So of course she said no. But she said it with the totally-not-clear-whether-I'm-really-saying-no subtext set to 11. And Ben made clear what Grace wanted sexually: plausible deniability. If she could justify it as "not her choice," then she was all for having sex.

...we're getting into messed up dysfunctional self-destructive territory here. Welcome to Monsterhearts.

Sookeeh!

I really want to try this out.