Anyone wanna help me even more by providing some feedback for The Tengu? I’ve been working on it (and The Kitsune) on and off, and need some new eyes to look it over. This one’s much less finished currently.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/30iwcwxnb0t8oiw/The%20Tengu%20R1.pdf
I’m not familiar with Tengu mythology, but these moves really appeal to me. Looking forward to seeing more.
A great resource for Japanese “monster” folklore is the Obakemono Project (http://www.obakemono.com/). The site has been invaluable in helping me with inspiration for my Oni, Kitsune, and Tengu Skins. Plus the illustrations are absolutely fantastic.
Like a lot of entities in Japanese mythology, Tengu started off as decidedly evil, but came to be seen as protectors. Which is actually great for Monsterheart Skins, as it allows me to have both “good” and “evil” Moves in the same Skin while still remaining true to the nature of the source material.
Originally tengu were demons who stole and ate children, spread chaos and war, and tempted or tricked Buddhist monks down the path to Hell. (I think a Move about sincerely offering really bad advice would be a possible way to represent that.) Some stories say that tengu are the spirits of overly proud or corrupt samurai or monks.
As time passed though, tengu became the protectors of shrines and temples, only caused mischief, and even helped find lost children.
I’m wondering if Protector needs a drawback. Maybe requiring The Tengu to hold steady to refrain from responding with violence when one of their sacred spaces is threatened. Kind of like The Ghoul.
I also think I need to add “or its owner’s permission” to Vengeful Guardian. Otherwise, I see weird things happening. The Tengu could go to someone’s house and have sex with them, add their residence as a sacred place, and then immediately use Vengeful Guardian and try to kick the person out of their own home. That is weird.
But also pretty funny, and would cause all kinds of drama.
Without the “Playing the Tengu”, it’s hard to critique. What do you want your skin to do, and what teen issues does it deal with? It seems like a different version of The Creature (with his environmental causes and sacred territory).
Writing fluff is something I don’t think I’m good at, Adam Goldberg . It’s usually the last thing I do as I struggle with it so much. That includes the “Playing the [Skin]” section, as well as the flavor text next to the hero image.
The Tengu is one of those Skins that doesn’t really line up with a teenage behavior or a condition. It’s got a bit of the protector in it, as well as a bit of an instigator or a trickster (though the trickster is more of the Kitsune’s role). It’s really meant to simply emulate the creature from Japanese mythology. That might make it a weaker Skin than some of the others.
That being said, there may be some design space to play with the idea of ownership. Especially if the Tengu can make places they don’t own one of their sacred places. How do you protect something that you don’t own or have access to?
The swashbuckling pirate, the functional alcoholic space engineer, and the frumpy elf ranger are all interesting archetypes. Unfortunately, if they’re not about the pains of growing up (particularly in modern America), it’s hard to integrate them in Monsterhearts. Once you find the connection, you’ll find the moves.
The problem with the Kitsune is similar, in that your character is fundamentally not a teenager, it’s a fox. Even if you’re a 400 year old vampire, the fact you take teenager form says something about you…and something about being a teen.
I chewed over what you said Adam Goldberg , and while I don’t entirely disagree, I’m also (obviously) biased.
The characters you’ve mentioned are indeed interesting archetypes that don’t belong in a game of Monsterhearts. However I feel it’s somewhat unfair to compare the Kitsune and Tengu to those examples. Pirates, space engineers, and rangers are, by their nature, incompatible with the Monsterhearts setting. I feel there is nothing about the Kitsune and Tengu that prevent them from being looked at and used the same way other Skins are.
To put it another way, angels, monster hunters, fairies, ghosts, ghouls, golems, mermaids, dragons, vampires, werewolves, and witches (not to mention incubi/succubi, gorgons, nymphs, sasquatches, and a host of other monsters) have been looked at through the lense of “being a teenager”. So why not the Oni, the Kitsune, and the Tengu? Yes the better Skins use the monster nature as a metaphor for some sort of teenage behavior, but not all of them do. Plus, if you’re going to say that a Vampire who takes the form of a teenager says something about you and being a teenager, then doesn’t a magical, shape-changing fox who chooses to take the form a human teenager and attend high school also say something about you and being a teenager?
I’m not trying to be defensive. I’ve dealt out some harsh criticism on other people’s Skins and certainly don’t want to be the kind of person who can dish it out, but not take it. I appreciate your feedback, and totally agree that the best Skins are the ones that use the monster as a metaphor for some aspect of teenage existence. I will definately think about what element I’m trying to spotlight with these two Skins. 🙂