In the rulebook, McDaldno states that Monsterhearts doesn't necessarily have to take place in a high school setting, so long as the characters feel alienated from both others and their own bodies, and there is a milieu of petty social politics. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone out there had switched the setting up, and what came of it. I thought of a couple of examples.
College: This one, I think, is pretty obvious. It's like high school but with both fewer and more restrictions. For a lot of teens it's their first taste of freedom. If you don't want to go to class one day, you can skip it, and the only one getting hurt will be yourself. There's frat parties to attend (and get drunk at for the first time), causes to champion (and realize how apathetic the wider world can be), co-ed dorms to explore (and getting honest with those other feelings you had to keep tamped down in that small town you came from)...
After the End: It's finally happened. The bombs have been dropped, the cities are in ruins, everything you knew and loved is gone baby gone. Can a gaggle of monstrous teens survive? What does it mean to be a monster when the social order that would normally keep you in hiding has been wiped out? Plus, when your characters grow up, you can just start playing Apocalypse World with the same setting. Maybe the Queen becomes the Hardholder or the Witch the Hocus. Fun.
Nursing Home: It's a bit peculiar, yes, but a lot of the same themes still apply. A bunch of people stuck together, their bodies changing in ways they never approved of. And all that history. How do you deal with suddenly being under the power of authority figures a lot younger than you? In horror films, having sex usually means you're going to die, but now you've got to deal with weak hearts as well? If there are forever-17 vampires out there, then surely there's got to be at least one whose forever 70. And if Mildred from across the hall finds out, what's more likely? That she's going to be believed, or that the staff will just up her medication?
Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House (sic): Getting clean is hard. The theory is that getting clean with a fellowship of other people trying just as hard to get clean in a milieu of mutual support should make it all the more easier, but who wants to live with former junkies? It seems to be working for Tony though. He looks great. He says that his life really turned around once he discovered his Higher Power, so I guess the program really does work. Maybe he should take Constance under his wing. Whatever she'd been doing it's left her skin really pale. Almost translucent, really...
School for Exceptional Children: I worry this one might change the themes of the game too much, not having to hide your true nature anymore, but really that only applies on school grounds, n'est-ce pas? Suddenly the Fury doesn't feel so alone anymore, but the Vampire was perfectly fine being a big fish in a small pond thank you very much. Being surrounded by other teens who are just as monstrous as you might be freeing, or it might be frustrating that suddenly you have to deal with people who know just what you're all about and won't take your shit. There's still weird romance to be found between Haunting 101 and AP Pledgecraft, though what I really want to know is: who decided to put all these monsters together in first place and why?