First time MC here, and I’m looking for some feedback on a possible MH game I’d like to run.
I’m aiming for a story-driven episodic PbP campaign, probably focusing around a Chosen and her/his friends (or rivals). To accomplish this, I’m eschewing the end-of-season rule and will probably institute a milestone system of advancement to keep players from maxing out so quickly.
Why get rid of the end-of-season rule: My biggest complaint with the MH system is that it is such a character driven system yet it cramps any story by forcing the MC to wrap up any loose strings once a player achieves their fifth advancement. I’ve been in MH games where we as players try to find ways to delay advancements, because we don’t want our story to get wrapped up so quickly and so abruptly.
What do you all think? Is MH flexible enough to allow a more episodic story game, like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, or is it best used as a sandbox for player drama to organically unfold?
Sounds kinda like Primetime Adventures in that you’d be deciding the number of episodes in an season before playing.
The advancement system doesn’t seem intended for long-term.
Benjamin Davis I agree. Characters can advance very quickly should they manage to roll their highlighted stats as often as possible.
While it may encourage the rapid development of dramatic situations, it also limits the overall lifespan of a game and causes characters to be mechanically completed before their arcs can come anywhere close to being told, so it seems best to drop the advancement system or completely overhaul it for a long-term game.
I’ve played in a game where the MC slowed down advancement in order to not miss any story threads, and it felt stilted–not feral enough to be a monsterhearts game.
But there are reasons it’s called “end of season”, not “end of campagin”. Leave plot threads dangling, and then pick them up with season 2–switching out characters whose narrative arcs feel done, but keeping those who feel like they have more potential.
A very simple slowdown would be making the highlighted stats only once per session.
I’ve played in a game that lasted a few years. (it was bi monthly if i remember correctly) We changed a couple of characters out, and others just changed skins through plausible game play.
As Alan said, the end is a season, not a campaign end. I personally feel that if everyone is enjoying themselves, let the season be as long or as short as works for the group.
My last MC changed the XP requirement for Advancement, and we’re still doing pretty well with it, about a level per session until last session, where we’re starting to get about 3/4 of a level per session. We’ve played for 2 months or so on it. The equation is 2x+2 where the level is x. Just a thought.