Skins for the Skinless is updated!

Skins for the Skinless is updated!

Originally shared by Topher Gerkey

Skins for the Skinless is updated!

And I mean really pretty updated. For reference, here’s what’s in this revision and what’s changed:

The Beast : minor text edits, improved artwork

The Calaca : minor text edits

The Creature : minor text edits

The Fury : minor text edits, layout improvements, new artwork!

The Gargoyle : newly added, significantly revised moves, improved artwork

The Minotaur : newly added

The Mummy : minor text edits

The Proxy : minor text edits

The Unchained : newly added, minor text edits

The Unseen : minor text edits, layout improvements, new artwork!

Plus of course “Under the Skin” MC advice for all ten skins in the collection.

So what’s coming up next? Well, I have two skins (The Creep and The Muse) pretty much ready for layout. They have artwork done and just need one more revision pass on the moves. I expect to get those out in January.

Another skin (The Bogey) is in a similar state but without artwork. The Elemental still needs some major mechanics work before it’s ready. And just today I got inspired with a neat idea for The Harpy, but I’ve literally done nothing with it yet – it’s just an idea.

Anyway. Thanks for your interest in my skins, and thanks so very much to my super awesome Patreon patrons, who help make it worth my while to create these and release them for free! I’d love to hear your feedback if you use any of my skins in your game. ^_^

6 thoughts on “Skins for the Skinless is updated!”

  3. Some neat stuff, but I do have a few things I’m not so fond of.

    Sometimes you cram too much into a single move. The Labyrinth should be 2 moves; in fact, the first part of it already is a move in the core MH book(Primal Dominance). Soulmate and Royal Decree are two other examples of 2 moves crammed into one(and I have additional issues with both of them, but that’s not relevant to the point I’m making here).

    Some moves are too cheap for what they do. The Soulmate portion that lets you spend a string to show up in a scene with your soulmate should either require a roll or cost more. Ditto the Proxy’s Am I Interrupting as written. 2 strings for unfettered access to someone’s stuff indefinitely? Way too cheap. It needs to have an expiration(such as it being supernatural assistance from your patron that you get, use, then lose) or a much higher cost. Plus no surveillance footage? Even Slenderman leaves video evidence occasionally! This is why I’m in favor of it requiring a roll.

    In the case of the Mummy, I just don’t think the skin moves cover the pride/humility and fish out of water themes. They’re generically Egyptian, but that’s about it(I’m not even sure I care for it being tied to Egypt so strongly either, as that’s not the only place mummification of one sort or another was practiced, and it seems unnecessarily limiting). It really needs something to reflect the Mummy’s inability and/or unwillingness to adapt, and some way to use pride and manipulation at a price(I’m thinking something akin to Bought Loyalty) that’s not tied to trinkets.

    Then there’s the Fury . . . I love the themes according to the Under the Skin section, and very little else. Group-affecting moves(a big no-no, and overpowered even by the “not overly concerned with balance” standards of Monsterhearts), going Darkest Self on a good roll that’s incredibly easy to trigger . . . those are both bad. I have actual experience with the Fury that makes me think that for it to be useful in anything more than a one-shot without destroying everyone’s fun it needs an almost total rewrite. As an MC, I let one into an ongoing game once, and that’s the last time I’ll make that mistake.

  4. I too found the Mummy in my game hard to humble.

     He was arrogant, power-coupled with his soulmate and was basically untouchable on anything but the worst rolls.

  5. Yeah, Soulmate is . . . way more powerful than it should be. Between double strings between Soulmates, cheap teleportation, and actually granting XP for having sex(pretty much the exact opposite of the highly inconvenient and/or self-destructive behavior XP granting moves are meant to encourage). It’s closer to 3 moves in 1 than the 2 I initially thought.

    Side note: the XP portion of the Proxy SM needs to either be excised altogether or only apply to the other person. XP is meant to act as a meta-incentive to get the player to put their character in bad situations. The Proxy isn’t doing that; the person sleeping with the Proxy is.

    I’m also pretty sure that as a design decision, SMs and DSs don’t interact with specific skin moves because Skin Change happens. Even the Werewolf’s “Unstable” is worded in such a way that it works regardless of what your DS actually is. Of course, even if you switch skins, if you have Soulmate you still have an effective 2 moves for the price of 1. But yeah, SMs and DSs shouldn’t reference specific skin moves, nor should skin moves reference specific SMs or DSs.

    But yeah, none of the Mummy’s moves have any downsides related to its themes. Soul Eater has potential downsides, but nothing related. And Cursed Idols has a downside that can be almost anything. On the surface none of them enforce the pride/humility thing, but I suppose they could, maybe.

    That’s another move that’s too cheap, by the way. Considering that you get one of the benefits listed without so much as a roll, the drawbacks are pretty weak. I’d at least require a Dark roll. If these artifacts are really cursed, a bit more randomness in what you can actually get out of them(assuming you don’t fail altogether evil grin) is a good thing.

Comments are closed.