So, does anyone know if there’s a skin that focuses on the ideas of reckless abandon/impulsiveness? I’m mulling over the idea of a Satyr/Maenad skin, but I want to make sure I’m not retreading well-worn ground.
And, for that matter, what would you like to see in that kind of skin? Any advice for someone writing her first?
I think it could be done with the ghoul, but nothing very specific to hedonism comes to mind. My suggestion is if you were to make such a skin, make sure you that there is a reason why the characters wouldn’t just want to degenerate into pure hedonistic benders every session (not that the character wouldn’t still do that, just that it would be something they wouldn’t like)
Well, at least on the maenad side of the equation, you’ve got the destructive frenzy. I was thinking that made a pretty solid place to build a Darkest Self on.
As far as the hedonistic benders go…if characters are going to do it anyways, might as well embrace it, and just hang the mechanics on it, right? I was thinking something akin to how The Infernal powers its abilities, where you have to feed strings (or mark of a counter) in order to feed other powers, but every use pushes you towards that Darker Self.
Just some preliminary thoughts. Hmm.
The thing with the ghoul and the infernal is that while they are pushed to over indulge, they will end up regretting the results. I don’t care how undead they are, a teenager waking up on top of a pile of half eaten classmates is gonna cause some conflicting emotions. So I guess my suggestion is to make sure that the skin will encourage the maenad to say ‘oh fuck, what have I done?’ after such an episode. Maybe have it in thier moves that everybody knows that the maenad is responsible or something like that.
Duly noted, thought that was certainly going to be the intent.
Maybe the Maenad gets tagged with some kind of condition at the end of his/her benders?
Also, make sure the player is clear about what s/he is actually playing. There are always people who want to smash through the setting with wild abandon and zero fucks. And if that’s the kind of game you want to play/run, cool. I”m not usually down for that, and I’ve got a player who is, and we don’t mesh well.
There was someone who made a “Monkey” skin earlier based on Chinese mythology, and the emotional theme was very close to what you are looking at. It was more the teenage impulse towards believing oneself invulnerable and doing reckless things for fun.
I think a Maenad skin sounds like a fantastic idea. I think the Frenzy is a spectacular Darkest Self, perhaps triggered by drinking and failing a Hold Steady roll, or their sex move.
Underage drinking and access to alcohol are definetly things of importance in teenage drama.
Look up the Pheonix. Perfect for what you described.