Monsterhearts AP: Hudson, OH II, 9/1

We did a bit of a refresher since it had been two or three weeks since the last session. Refreshed both rules and the situation at play. I explained the string economy and asked everybody what their character had done last session. Everybody was, of course, able to remember their own activities, with just a few additions from me. I also read through the list of thematic objects, and asked if everybody was interested in them, and told them that if they wanted another topic dealt with, they had to bring it into play themselves, but that they can always talk about it outside play too.

I wanted to revisit some threads that got skipped over last time.

Evann's Fae had gone for a walk in the woods with her friend before the party; what happened there? I was interested in her feeling of alienation/inhumanity, and I wanted to push her into some decision about her place among humans. So I had the Green Woman, the Fae's mother, a 7 foot tall naked green lady, freeze time and greet her daughter. They embraced. When the Fae went home to her obtuse, "thumb-headed" "family", she was distant, maybe didn't even greet them.

Still in preparation for the party. Last session, Ken's Werewolf had asked his ancestor spirits who at the party he could fuck, and I named a side character. But I should have asked the other players if any main characters were down to pound. I did so, and they were not.

Divya's Ghost decided to crash the party (something she decided on last session actually) and walked over. Divya framed the scene: she crossed through the graveyard on the way over and stumbled upon the necrophilia, and her own body. Divya also added that the necrophiliacs noticed her, but I said this was beyond her authority. It would have been interesting, but I felt a little miffed, and that my own plans were more interesting. (I'm not sure if this is a valid way of thinking about things for PbtA. In AW, Baker says over and over again not to prepare scenes. If he means, "Don't script scenes", then I've got that in the bag. But if he means "Don't prep bangs", then I'm in trouble.) I told Divya that, since her character can fly and pass through walls, then if she is trying to avoid attention, she will never be noticed. The Ghost watched from afar.

The partygoers arrived at the graveyard. The Infernal fled, rolling to escape, and dropped the piece of the Ghost's finger he had recovered.

The partygoers found the bodies and decided to dress them up and pose them for pictures. Jesus Christ. The Werewolf was confident he could pull the side character I'd named; in fact, he was angling for a threesome with another side character.

Meanwhile Miguel, a side character who had promised the Fae "a night to remember", tried to comfort her and get laid. She rebuffed him, Shutting Him Down and failing the roll badly. He was pissed off and called her a psycho, claiming in front of everyone that she must have murdered the people in the grave -- including the girl everyone recognized as the Ghost. She's pissed, and she takes off. She'd fuck anyone now, Evann says. (There was some more context to that line, in which it made more sense, but I don't remember it now.) She gets the condition Murderess.

The Werewolf wants to impress these two girls. He has a plan -- he convinces his friend, the side character Orenthal, to try to push the girls into the open grave. Meanwhile he, the Werewolf, will rescue them by tackling Orenthal and grabbing them. He doesn't tell Orenthal that part! So Orenthal pushes the girls, and the Werewolf tackles him, Lashing Out Physically. He goes way too hard and slams Orenthal into the grave, breaking his collarbone. They have to call the paramedics and the party is broken up.

One person stays from the party, the first girl, the side character the Werewolf knew he could have sex with. He goes home with her.

Meanwhile, we follow the Ghost as she follows the Infernal as he flees the party. He goes into the sewers, where he meets the Red Lady. He apologizes for failing her, and she demands that he "destroy" the Fae.

We had previously established that nobody could see the Red Woman but the Infernal. Did that really go for the Ghost too? She could definitely see that the Infernal was talking. I said that she could probably Gaze Into the Abyss to learn more, see the aetheric being the Infernal was talking to, yadda yadda. Divya said that while she wanted to do this, she didn't think the Ghost actually would do it.

The next morning the Werewolf wakes up with the side character in bed with him. I ask a few questions about their night together -- was it awkward or natural? Tender? Romantic? Good? Bad? And so on. Then we talk about his sex move. What a gamechanger for this character, to be spiritually connected to his one-night stand! He's really unhappy about that, and tries to brush her off, even becoming cruel.

We ended the session there. I had a headache and I was out of ideas. I talked about playing hot or cold, and I asked everybody to say, explicitly, what if anything their characters wanted from each other. I am afraid I don't remember the answers. I also said that sometimes you play your character like an actor, just following through on their natural trajectory and speaking the appropriate lines, and that sometimes you play your character like an author, deciding that today is the day they'll change, and it's up to you which stance you take and when. Hopefully that advice helps Divya.

We played Rose, Thorn, and Bud. I don't remember the results.

It was an ok. The dicing work well to upend the status quo, but none of the main characters made any important moves. It felt like set-up for another, hopefully more interesting, session to come.

I'm not sure about how I'm running it, if I'm truly "PbtA" or what. In particular I'm not sure about the actions off the Red and Green Ladies and the side character who slept with the Werewolf. Is that how these things "should" have been introduced? Do these things qualify as MC moves? (Bring them together, I guess, plus the custom move "Make an unreasonable demand".) Hard to say.