I MCed a game that included a player from the Up to 4 Players podcast.

I MCed a game that included a player from the Up to 4 Players podcast.

I MCed a game that included a player from the Up to 4 Players podcast. Listen from 11:30 onwards to hear them talk about a couple of extras that I use an MC. Oh, and check out their comic too! It’s not MH related but it’s pretty good 🙂

http://www.uptofourplayers.com/2015/07/ep-6-were-all-damaged/

Thanks to Jadespaniel Eshu Oleron Philipp Neitzel Steven Hanlon for the Monsterhearts March Hangout (which we ended…

Thanks to Jadespaniel Eshu Oleron Philipp Neitzel Steven Hanlon for the Monsterhearts March Hangout (which we ended…

Thanks to Jadespaniel Eshu Oleron Philipp Neitzel Steven Hanlon for the Monsterhearts March Hangout (which we ended up calling Blood & Bone (or Skin Problems as I realised later)). A game with an unusual assortment of a Calaca, a Giant, a Selkie and a Werewolf, some dirty cops, a lot more demon cops, a nagging dead Mexican family, a “Castle” in the cornfields and special guest appearances by Adam Samberg and Principal Skinner.

There’s a link to intro below. If I write up any more I’ll put it there as well.

New skins and credits

New skins and credits

New skins and credits

I realised from a recent matter that I wasn’t aware of any community standards or guidelines around Skin design and crediting. Thinking on it, in any Skin, there is the creative work of several folk involved – the Skin designer, the artist, Avery, D. Vincent Baker, as well as others as we are increasingly inspired by other skins we see and adapt moves they have. I am not a Skin designer myself and so am ill-placed to either point to standards or guidelines that already exist or discuss what guidelines there should be.

What I can do is add a pinned post to the top of the Skins category here which includes a) links that are useful to Skin designers (e.g. to blank templates) and also b) guidelines as to how skins should be credited.

If there are Skin designers in this community who are able to point to:

– useful links

– existing community standards or guidelines as to crediting

– or would be interested in writing such

then please reply with your thoughts in this thread.

Monsterhearts Death Moves

Monsterhearts Death Moves

Monsterhearts Death Moves

Michael Duxbury has been working on skin-specific Death Moves (you know, to replace the existing ‘lose all strings’ ‘become your Darkest Self’). I really love the idea and the opportunities to offer your players a difference play experience for a while mid-campaign and kickstart new plotlines.

With his permission, I’ve lain them out and attached the doc. I think they’re pretty good as they are, but they could really use some real play experience/beta testing. If anyone does use them then please do let us know how you find them.

You can find the original post (along with Michael’s blog) here:

http://michaelduxbury.com/2014/11/27/i-would-die-for-you-death-moves-in-monsterhearts/

Finally, as this is a beta doc, feel free to link to it to others, but please don’t host separately.  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9aDy3dv5nWvM2gwcGVrTG9Lc28/view?usp=sharing

Save the date – Monsterhearts Hangout game

Save the date – Monsterhearts Hangout game

Save the date – Monsterhearts Hangout game

We’ll be doing the first (of what will hopefully become a regular monthly) hangout one-shot game this Saturday (25th Jan). 

There’ll be two separate slots (10am EST – 2pm EST) (2pm EST – 6pm EST). Each game will be separate from the other and a one-shot.

Not set at the moment how we’ll organise it, but I’d prefer to see who turns up at the time (and then cap participation in the unlikely event that we have too many) rather than reserve in advance and then be let down should people reserved not show.

As I say, not taking reservations right now, but if anyone has any comments or questions then feel free to ask.

More to come.

How I MC Monsterhearts

How I MC Monsterhearts

How I MC Monsterhearts

This is an AP of a one-shot game I MCed a while back. I annotated it with a lot of notes as to how I was thinking as MC at the time. I thought this might be of interest to any other MCs out there.

http://apocalypse-world.com/forums/index.php?topic=6217.0

Revised Shut Down basic move

Revised Shut Down basic move

Revised Shut Down basic move

Here’s a revised Shut Down move which better encapsulates for me the role I want the Shut Down move to play and also mechanically works in a way I like better. I’ve named it ‘Shut Someone Down / Put Someone in their Place’.

Shut Someone Down / Put Someone in their Place

When you put someone in their place, roll with cold.

On a 10 up, you’ve got them, they choose how you show them up and whether to end the encounter. Take a String on them.

On a 7-9, choose one:

– The encounter ends in silence as neither gives an inch. Each gain a String on the other.

– The encounter ends loudly with name-calling and angry words. Each give a Condition to the other.

I’ve seen Shutting Someone Down confused with actually limiting what the target can do “I grab them, they’re struggling to resist, I roll to shut them down” etc. To clarify it, I’ve previously described it as a ‘social attack’, but really now I see it as a status attack – I am trying to change our respective statuses by either raising mine or lowering yours (or both). 

As to the name: from my experience at school, there is a perceived social order that is maintained by those within it (often by those at the top, but not always and exclusively). “Putting someone in their place” can have both a benevolent and a vindictive angle (perhaps even depending which side of it your own), if a guy’s acting crazy you can say “Back off, man, you’re losing it”, conversely if someone from a lower level goes to a higher level party you can say “Who the hell do think you are, coming here?” So, putting someone in their place is entirely subjective: you think they are acting outside of the place you think they should be in.

Mechanically, the significant change is to flip losing a string into gaining a string (and bringing the 10+ in line with the Turn On move). This is a personal preference as I find it’s more interesting to spend strings rather than lose them. It also makes it easier for a high Cold character to increase their influence without gaining loads of Conditions and avoids the awkwardness of the 7-9 “What do you do when you don’t each have a string to lose on the other?”

If you play with it and have feedback then let me know. If you’d like to go the whole hog then I attach a pdf where you can download 6 copies of the wording of an appropriate size to paste over the Shut Someone Down move in the Reference Sheets.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9aDy3dv5nWvQVRNZ2JXd3J5Skk/view?usp=sharing

I also recommend Ross Cowman’s Crabby Basic Moves if you have them (if I find a public release of them I’ll link it here).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9aDy3dv5nWvQVRNZ2JXd3J5Skk/view?usp=sharing

I’m considering doing regular Hangout one-shots (e.g.

I’m considering doing regular Hangout one-shots (e.g.

I’m considering doing regular Hangout one-shots (e.g. one Hangout game per month). This wouldn’t be a campaign, each session would be it’s own game. 

For life and geographic reasons, I could only host this in the morning or afternoon EST on weekends. If you’re interested in one-shot Hangout games then please vote on the below. As ever, if you’d prefer more than one time, then vote and also post both:

– which one you voted for (so I can get an accurate count)

– which other slots you would prefer

Resource – headshots

Resource – headshots

Resource – headshots

For in-person games, as part of my standard Monsterhearts kit, I carry around a deck of cards each with a character headshot on them. I personally find it helpful on a couple of fronts – it helps the players pick a more specific ‘look’ for their PC and also helps me keep a hand of NPC cards ready and encourages me to reincorporate them.

The website I got them from specialises in actor headshots (I was looking for young, good-looking and broody so aspiring actors fit the bill pretty well). Here: 

http://www.kirill.co.uk/headshot-photography/actor/lead_actor_casting.htm