Granted I have a lot of games that do this and do this well. Perhaps one of the best urban fantasy / Horror games about high school is the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG. BUT I want to cover Buffy when I do Unisystem later on this month.
Of course, another fantastic example is Dark Places & Demogorgons, a game I have covered often. The biggest reason not to cover it today is that I have said so much about it.
This leaves one game that fits as well as those two AND it takes such a different approach that I have to try it out. Monsterhearts.
Monsterhearts 2 by Avery Alder is one of those games that doesn’t just sit on your shelf, it stares at you. It dares you to pick it up and think about all the messy, complicated, horny, terrifying stuff that made adolescence such a fever dream. Avery Alder’s game is firmly within the Powered by the Apocalypse family, utilizing those mechanics to push hard on narrative, relationships, and the dark hunger lurking within every teenager. I would go as far to say it is one of the best examples of a Powered by the Apocalypse game. Now, normally, I am not a huge fan of the Apocalypse system, but here it works so very well.
The pitch is simple: you play teenage monsters, or maybe monstrous teenagers, or just regular teenagers. Vampires, witches, werewolves, fae, the usual suspects, but this isn’t about killing things in the night. It’s about identity, sexuality, and the strange alchemy of desire and fear. The “Skins” (playbooks) are equal parts archetype and pressure cooker, designed to push your character into bad decisions that feel achingly real. You’re going to lash out, you’re going to want someone you shouldn’t, and you’re going to hurt the people closest to you. That’s the point.
Monsters as metaphors for teenage life and feeling a little outside the norm. Not to lay it on too thick, but the monsters are metaphors, but...you actually are a monster. I think it is something everyone can relate to, I think.
Mechanically, it is lean and mean. Strings (the currency of influence and emotional leverage) do a lot of the heavy lifting, ensuring every interaction has bite. Conditions, labels you can slap on characters, make the social world as dangerous as any dungeon. And the sex moves? Well, they’re here to remind you that intimacy is never neutral. It changes the fiction in a big way, sometimes empowering, sometimes wrecking you.
The base mechanic is simple: 2d6 + whatever mods (depending on the game), get higher than 10 for a success, or a 7-9 for something weird.
I did write-ups for Monsterhearts before, and I always wanted to do more. I just got around to it for various reasons. I played it at Gen Con many years ago and had a great time. It is not a game I get to play often, but each time is memorable.
Larina "Creepy" Nichols for Monsterhearts
Larina in 1986 and her experiment with bangs
Larina has gone from the strange little girl who sees ghosts in Little Fears, to the odd girl everyone nicknamed "Creepy" in Dark Places & Demogorgons, to the goth chick people are actually afraid of in Monsterhearts. Gone are the ripped jeans and Misfits concert t-shirts, she is now in her full young Stevie Nicks meets Elvira stage. Heavy make-up, lots of rings, black everything.
While there is no time period set for Monsterhearts in the rules, but I am going to set this one in 1986. This means I am going to not use the whole section on "Texting." Sure it is fun, but passing notes is better.
The underlying tone of Monsterhearts is the queer experience (which I know practically nothing about); I do know the "outsider" experience, and the Satanic Panic helped that. Don't worry, I am not going to "straight-wash" this at all; that would go counter to the game's intended ethos and, honestly, just would not work as well.
Skin: The Witch (obviously)
Look: Edgy but Attractive
Eyes: Are the brown? Are they blue? No one is sure.
Origin: Heard the call of the Goddess at six and taught by the ghost of her grandmother.
Backstory: Larina began seeing ghosts and other things when she was little. Now she can command some magic, but keeps it hidden because the more she uses it, the more she is also seen by those things.
Stats
Hot 1, Cold -1, Volatile -1, Dark 2 (seductive and spooky)
Sympathetic Tokens: 2 (Mortal and Fae) Tokens count as Strings.
Strings: 2 (Mortal and Fae), Infernal has a string on her.
Darkest Self
The time for subtlety and patience is over. You’re too powerful to put up with their garbage any longer. You hex anyone who slights you. All of your hexes have unexpected side effects, and are more effective than you are comfortable with. To escape your Darkest Self, you must offer peace to the one you have hurt the most.
Sex Move
After sex, you can take a Sympathetic Token from them. They know about it, and it’s cool.
Witch Moves
- Hex Casting: Binding, Illusions (demonic visages)
- Sanctuary
So, it's 1986. The Satanic Panic has come to her sleepy little midwestern college town and all eyes are on the girl everyone already suspects is out in the woods sacrificing animals and calling up demons for sex. When in truth she is typically at home in her attic room (she moved up there years ago) and listens to her dad's Yes albums.
At 16, Larina is very confused about her sexuality. She has heard the joke a few too many times that college Wiccan groups are just lonely heart clubs for new lesbians and bisexuals, but she feels the need to conform somehow. There is an older metalhead guy she has a crush on (The Mortal), and there is a girl with blonde hair she has been fantasizing about (The Fae); both seem to be mutual. At the moment, she is still too scared to do anything with either of them, except for a couple of make-out sessions each.
There is an Infernal foreign exchange student who keeps pursuing her, and Larina isn't sure how much longer she will be able to resist her charms, nor is she sure she really even wants to. The Infernal is based on a character my wife played in a game a while back. A girl named Sasha, who was really a Succubus.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed what Little Fears brought to the childhood experiences of characters, and I LOVE what Monsterhearts brings to the teen experiences.
In reality, you could dual-stat every character you are playing in a teen/high school game. Say Buffy or DP&D and Monsterhearts. Use the more crunchy stats for things like fighting vampires and Monsterhearts for...doing other things with them. It would take a very experienced Game Master (Director and MC) with a very deft hand to do this, but it would be fun.
Monsterhearts 2 isn’t for everyone. But for the right group, it’s raw and cathartic in a way few RPGs even attempt. It captures the horror of being young and not knowing who you are, except maybe something terrible. And that’s a story worth telling at the table.
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