Originally shared by Brie “Beau” Sheldon
In time for your Halloween fun, check out my Medusa Monsterhearts skin!
Thanks to my awesome models, Tristan Tarwater and Julia Ellingboe, and my layout king, John Sheldon.
Enjoy!
#monsterhearts
In time for your Halloween fun, check out my Medusa Monsterhearts skin!
In time for your Halloween fun, check out my Medusa Monsterhearts skin!
I love the skin – I just have a question about the Sex Move.
If you’re already “going steady” with someone and you have sex with them again, what happens? I assume some sort of ramping up of the relationship level (something like going steady -> exclusive -> engaged -> married). Otherwise, nothing would happen at all, which seems off.
There’s a typo: “Medu*sda* Moves”
The Skin is so cool!
C. Reaves An escalation would be appropriate. Since relationships tend to go to shit very fast in Monsterhearts, I hadn’t thought beyond the initial time.
Giulia Cursi Thanks for catching that! We’ll be doing a revision to it probably tonight or this weekend to correct that.
I am super excited about this skin. Two questions/thoughts.
Any possibility for more guidance on behavior for when in Darkest Self besides “humiliated”? I think a lot of folks gravitate to that guidance when trying to decide how to fully embrace their Darkest Selves.
On Stone Cold …. “You’ve got a stone-cold stare. When you shut someone down you may spend a String to gain +2 to your roll.” So, a string can already give you +1, so I get that this would give you +2. But the results of shutting someone down is either getting them to lose a string or giving them a condition. You could just spend that string to give them a condition, without the move. Which would mean that the only use of Stone Cold would be to make folks lose a string on you. Would it be better to just let the Medusa do that without a roll, i.e. “You’ve got a stone-cold stare. Spend a string to make someone else lose a string on you.”
Oh and on Shamed, does the move only count when you get the condition applied to you, or any social situation where you’re humiliated? The lack of italics makes we wonder. (plus I think it would be awesome if it said “When you or your Sisters are humiliated.”)
dave ring I’ll think on the Darkest Self. Personally I like it as-is, as it allows people to interpret it differently based on how they choose to play the character.
RE: Stone Cold – the move is meant as an enhancement to the + benefit of Strings and shutting down, so in this case you’d get the benefit of the +2 as well as the benefits of the shutting down. I’m not sure how that works out to only getting people to lose a string on you.
Shamed applies when the condition is applied.
Sorry if my Stone Cold thoughts were disorganized, let me try again.
Amongst the uses of strings, for any player, are adding +1 to a roll and giving out a condition.
The results of shutting someone down are removing a string or gaining a string, or giving a condition.
The Stone Cold move would let the Medusa spend a string to get +2 on a roll to shut someone down. But the only reason for using the string for that would be to remove a string, because the Medusa could just spend it normally to give a condition. And obvs no point in spending a string to get a string.
That’s why I suggested just changing the move to reflect Medusa’s ability to take away strings.
Feel free to modify it if that is how you’d prefer the move to work.
Wasn’t a preference, was just trying to figure the move out. Anyway, I think the skin is great and thanks for making it.
So dave ring I think you’re missing some of the setup of the move.
You are absolutely correct on what shutting someone down says, but remember that all moves are triggered by fictional positioning. So for example someone is yelling, calling you names, and you turn around, medusa visage close to the surface and attempt to wither and shut him up with a cold, stony gaze.
Shutting Someone Down triggers. This supersedes string expenditure.
Now, in your example I could technically spend a string to give him the trait – silent or perhaps cowed and just describe my stare as inflicting it. Still well and good. String lost, they hold steady to shake it, we deal with the outcome.
Alternately we go with Shutting Someone Down (and sometimes you react, like withering someone in a conversation, smacking them against lockers while not attempting to get in a serious fight etc – and the move triggers without you trying to game it).
Spending a string for +2 (remember this is post) means that you’re practically guaranteeing that you’ll not get a 6- and a hard move against you (looking sheepish). And secondly, if you roll well (and you probably will with a +2 on top of your probably high natural cold) you’re more than likely to be able to pick up a string for your troubles, meaning it’s a net zero loss, but THE FICTION ADVANCES.
The person is Shut Down probably at no cost to you.
So think of this as a Medusa. Folks get uppity. You look at them. They blanch and freeze. You keep talking.
It’s pretty much perfect.
I have other questions/comments about the Skin (which I like), but I see where dave ring is coming from.
If you spend a String for Stone Cold and get +2 to your Shut Someone Down roll, you are increasing your chances of rolling high as Stras Acimovic said.
If you get a 10 up, you can choose to give them a Condition or have them lose a String on you (and gain one if they don’t have any on you). But as dave ring said, any character can spend a String to give another character a Condition. Any time they want. Without having to make a roll and risk rolling a 6-.
If you get a 7-9, you will either exchange Conditions or each lose a String on the other. Again, spending a String to hand out a Condition while receiving one in return isn’t great. Neither is spending two Strings to have someone else lose a single String.
So I would agree with dave ring in changing it to something like he suggested.
Just saw this, and need some time to wrap my head around it. I was expecting something more overtly “snake hair, turn people to stone,” etc, so finding that the skin is actually based on Medusa’s origin story as a scapegoat for her own sexual assault is throwing me for a loop.
My initial impression is that it’s a really cool idea, but I need to look closer at the mechanics and how they relate to the theme.
There were some updates made as of around 10am EDT today, so make sure you’ve got the latest copy.
It’s a slow day at work, so I have more time to look at this.
Re: Gaze Upon Me
Forcing someone to hold steady when they try to lash out at you (or flinch, hesitate, or freeze up if they’re an NPC) when you don’t have a String on them is a cool idea. But I don’t like the dice roll here. It’s too many dice rolls for my taste. I would simplify the Move to something like this:
Gaze Upon Me
When someone attempts to physically harm you, you may force them to hold steady (or to falter, hesitate or, freeze up momentarily if they are an NPC) without spending a String on them. If you do, choose one:
– they give you a Condition;
– they gain a String on you;
– you expose a secret.
I changed “You lose a String on someone” to “They gain a String on you” for two reasons. First, if you don’t have a String on this character, choosing to lose a String on them is pretty much a freebie. You can’t lose something you don’t have. Second, losing a Sting to force someone to Hold Steady is exactly the same as spending a String normally.
Re: Stone Cold
I like Stone Cold much better now. Gaining +2 to your roll and giving out the Condition of petrified in addition to any other effects that occur from the Shut Someone Down roll is definitely worth spending a String. Yes, you can give out a Condition by spending a String normally, but packaging it with the +2 bonus turns the Move into something other Skins can’t do in a single Move.
I’m curious about the wording though. You’ve written it as “When you shut someone down…” meaning that the Medusa has to trigger the Shut Someone Down Move first, before the Stone Cold Move kicks in. I think your intention is that the Medusa is simply using her gaze to petrify people, but as written, that won’t always be the case. In some situations using just a look would trigger the Shut Someone Down Move, but not in all of them. It really depends on the fiction of the situation, and the character the Medusa is interacting with.
If you want to guarantee that the Medusa can use just her gaze to intimidate people, regardless of character or situation, I would word the Move like this:
Stone Cold
You’ve got a look that can kill. When you lock eyes with someone in a silent stare, you may spend a String on them to shut them down, adding 2 to your roll. On a 7+, they gain the condition petrified in addition to the other effects of being shut down.
That allows the Medusa to narrate shutting someone down using only their gaze regardless of the situation or the character, with the mechanical cost of spending a String. Also, I don’t see why the Medusa can’t give out the petrified Condition regardless of what they get on their Shut Someone Down Move.
Re: Shamed
This is a bit ambiguous. I think you said the Move only triggers when the Medusa gains the Condition humiliated. As it stands now though, the Move triggers when the Medusa is fictionally humiliated, whether the Condition is applied or not.
Re: You’re So Vain
As written, Gazing into the Abyss after keeping your cool in a tense situation is not optional. There is no “may” in that Move’s instructions. Is this intentional? I can see both wordings being interesting. If the Gaze into the Abyss Move is mandatory, then the Medusa has to choose if they want to risk rolling a 6-. I could see players intentionally not keeping their cool in tense situations so they don’t risk getting a miss and possibly making things worse. But I could also see players intentionally putting themselves in tense situations just so they get that mandatory Gaze into the Abyss roll.
Re: Whisspers
Does this have to happen in the fiction? A player being allowed to tell the Medusa’s player a secret about their character at any time seems abusable. Also, I think what counts as an appropriate secret needs to be qualified a bit more.
Re: Pure of Heart
I think this could be reworded to “While you have the Condition humiliated….”. As written now, it only triggers once, right after the Medusa gains the Condition. Of course, leaving it as a one time “use it or lose it” effect is interesting too. The Medusa then has to choose between dishing out a savage beat down right now, or holding onto the grudge until later, but being less effective.
Re: Sex Move
Despite saying that I didn’t like having to roll for Gaze Upon Me, I think having a roll in the Sex Move might be appropriate. Otherwise, determining if someone sees the Medusa being intimate is almost entirely up the the MC. I was struggling with a similar Move for my Kitsune Skin (the Move was triggered entirely by NPC action), and finally scrapped it.
Awesome Skin. 🙂
I’ll think on what you’ve said for Stone Cold.
And yes, it is supposed to be mandatory for You’re So Vain. The character is under a lot of social pressure, so the urge to lose it should often be present.
Sorry about that, Brianna Sheldon. I was editing my post for clarity when you responded.
I really like this. Will offer it the next time I run.
Thank you!
It’s been up for awhile but it’s such a nice skin I have to comment.
The base powers are good, having the gang as a Skin move you can start with and an extra Skin move slot for advancement is an interesting tweak.
The new version of Stone Cold seems perfect. I like how the gaze can manifest in a variety of ways using different moves and the Darkest Self.
Shamed seems a bit underpowered at first but looking at the Darkest Self it actually becomes quite nice. I do think it should be able to apply when there is a humilation in storyline but not the Condition, especially since gaining the Condition is part of Darkest Self.
You’re so Vain seems weak. The extra way to Gaze isn’t so great in and of itself. The use of Cold would be awesome for some skins but the Medusa doesn’t have a bad Dark stat. Compared to the you can roll using X for Y move it’s not so good. Maybe grant a +2 on the roll.
Whisspers is also a bit weak. You get a fictional advantage but it makes it hard to hold Strings. Maybe mark experience when it happens as well. That or switch the control around so it’s “You may spend a String on someone to make them tell you a secret”.
Pure of Heart, the situationalness makes it a bit weaker than many alternate stat roll moves but the situationalness is so appropriate to the Skin it’s not a large hindrance.
One of our group will likely be playing a Medusa in an upcoming game so I can report back on how it goes if you like.
I’d love to see how it goes!