So I want to give some feedback to Avery Alder about the sneak preview of MH2. I’d like to hear some other people’s thoughts, though, about whether my idea is worthwhile.

There’s been a fair amount of rumbling about the removal of manipulate an NPC, and I think it’s a fair rumble. Not necessarily the removal of the move itself – I think it’s awesome that it’s effectively been folded into pulling strings, and I think that using strings to get NPCs to do what you want (the same way they work on PCs) is pretty ideal.

The problem is that as of right now, there’s no Basic Move way to generate strings except via turn someone on. If you want to pull a string on an NPC (or a PC for that matter!), first you have to get them hot and bothered. That’s definitely a great way to get influence over someone, but it feels weird and off-putting for it to be the only way.

So here’s my thought: turn someone on is the “carrot” way to gain social leverage on someone – it’s about enticement based on desire. What’s missing, I think, is a “stick” method of gaining social leverage. Coercion based on fear. Desire and fear are natural partners in Monsterhearts, so I feel like having them both be ways to get strings works thematically.

Shut someone down doesn’t work for these purposes. It doesn’t generate strings. It’s not about getting someone to do what you want, it’s pretty explicitly about weakening them. Removing their strings, putting a debilitating condition on them, or emphasizing their weakness compared to you.

So I’m proposing a new Basic Move, threaten someone play on someone’s fears. My mechanics are shitty, so don’t pay attention to the details beyond “get a string by making them afraid of you,” the idea here is what’s important.

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When you threaten someone play on someone’s fears, roll with Dark. On a 10 up, gain a string on them and carry 1 forward. On a 7-9, you still gain a string on them, but you’ve made them angry as well as afraid, so they carry 1 forward.

~

Here are some example situations where a player might roll to threaten someone play on someone’s fears:

“I slam Jake into his locker and loom over him. ‘Don’t forget my paper is due tomorrow. I want an A this time.’ I hold my fist in front of his face for a second before I leave with a glare.”

“I lean in close and whisper in Serena’s ear ‘I know who you were with last night.’ I shoot an obvious glance across the room to Cassidy, then to Serena’s boyfriend on the other side of the room.”

“‘I’m not dumb enough to think I could take you in a fight, Rico. But Wendy isn’t much of a fighter. And you can’t be with her 24/7. Think about it.'”

…

So. Feedback? Try not to pick at the exact mechanics; I’m sure Avery can come up with something way better. The important thing here is the proposal for a coercive fear-based string generating Basic Move rolled with Dark.

Harpy stuff.

Stats: Hot 0, Cold 1, Volatile 1, Dark -1. I thought about bumping Cold to 2, but putting the extra point in Hot will help with both generating Strings and explaining why people still hang out with such an aggressive person.

Random thought: my current media image for the Harpy is Mona Vanderwaal from the Pretty Little Liars TV show (in opposition to Alison DiLaurentis as the Queen, obvs).

BIG QUESTION: do I want to keep this Skin like the Queen, in that she’s mostly got realistic/mundane Moves, but with one or two that are overtly supernatural? Or make her fully mundane like the Mortal? Or make her more overtly mythic? Is the ability to sprout feathers and claws and shit really central to the Skin’s monstrousness or is just being The Mean Girl enough? I’d love some feedback here, and I’ll be keeping this closely in mind as I go through and decide which Moves to keep, ditch, fold together, change, etc.

I think Backstory is going to change a bit, and become more of an obverse of the Queen: one string each on three side characters you’re planning to victimize. Plus one string on a powerful enemy you’ve pissed off, and they have two strings on you.

The Harpy’s Darkest Self got some critical feedback for just basically being “get meaner than you already are,” and I feel like that’s really valid. One thing I want to do in this rework is emphasize that the Harpy targets the powerful, the arrogant, the prideful – she punishes hubris. The school’s wallflowers are probably terrified of her but also kind of admire her, since she preys on the predators. So her Darkest Self would involve losing that shaky moral high ground, and instead targeting the weak and defenseless, so it’s less about divine retribution and more about just lashing out. If I can express that in the Moves and Darkest self, do you, dear readers, think that would work better?

I actually really like the Harpy’s original Sex Move, although I think I’m going to be refining it a bit. Having to choose between being tender and cruel, with a slight mechanical enticement to be cruel, just works for me. I keep thinking of Laura Palmer laughing at Bobby Briggs, for those of you who get that reference.

Thoughts on individual Harpy Moves in the comments.

Specific mechanics goals:

~ try to trim and consolidate down to 6-7 Moves per Skin without losing iconic abilities

~ in keeping with MH2, do away with the “freebie point” and build it into each Skin’s starting values (ie instead of getting a free point to put in any stat, the Vampire automatically has it put into Hot)

~ total Move restructure on some Skins (frex the Muse will be structured more like the Witch and Infernal)

~ take a close look at Background Strings and really the String economy in general due to changes to Basic Moves

~ Speaking of, deal with the removal of Manipulate an NPC from the game

New collection, feel free to opt out, blah blah blah, you know how this works.

I’ll be using this space to kind of design out loud as I revise Skins for the Skinless for a second edition. Here are some goals:

~ Incorporate actual-play feedback (which I have a TON of now, thank you so much, players around the world) to make things clearer and more fun

~ Streamline and simplify, in line with MH2

~ Focus harder on core concepts and eliminate what doesn’t support those concepts

~ Try harder to “keep things feral” and put less emphasis on built-in narratives

Ideally this kind of work – pruning and editing – will be something I can accomplish more easily than fresh writing when I’m having Crazy Pants days.