EricaOdd's Monsterhearts demo/one-shot
Jun 30, 2018 4:18:41 GMT -8
Post by EricaOdd on Jun 30, 2018 4:18:41 GMT -8
Maybe someday it will be a campaign, but that'll probably be months down the road.
The Monsters
Lisa-Regina Cassidy Thalheimer: The ghost of a hippie girl who died in the dorm in 1968. She doesn't know how she died. While on a campus tour a few months ago, Mara had a strange experience in one of the dorm rooms, and, curious, took to the internet to research hauntings. She learned about Lisa's death and now knows that she is a ghost and how she died. She has not revealed this information to Lisa yet. This is my character, so she is something of a quiet wallflower, of course. She doesn’t show herself often and is not assertive at all. I figured it was a good choice for a GM player-character so she would be unobtrusive and not always part of things.
Chad Bradington: A jock dude-bro werewolf.Chad was the one who killed Mara. Chad was wolfed out and not in control of himself, and killed Mara and her step-mother a few months before the start of the game... on her graduation night. Chad, the werewolf, is prone to outbursts and violence, but can also be protective of those he brings into his 'pack. '
Mara Wilkins: A ghoul. After being killed by Chad, for some unknown reason Mara came back to life before anyone else knew she was dead. And now they're in the same dorm, just down the hall from each other! Chad doesn't know that he is Mara's killer, and Mara doesn't know how she came back to life. Mara's mother's life insurance policy helped pay for her college, so her death also in a twisted way provided for her future. As a monster type, ghouls have hungers, and Mara's hunger is for plunder. She craves material possessions, trying to fill the hole where her soul used to be with things she feels she deserves to have.
E. August: A hollow. He's not sure where he came from or why he is what he is. He woke up just days ago in a morgue in Arkham. Now he's Chad's roommate on the 9th floor of Armitage Hall. He's been taking his cues on how to be human from Chad. Lars somehow knows that E is not exactly human. (This main character took the place of the side character Bryce.)
Aradia Thalia: A witch. She is June's roommate. During move-in day she managed to steal Chad's high school ring and a strand of Mara's hair as sympathetic tokens. Mara saw her rummaging through Chad's things but hasn't said anything about it.
Lars Belgarth: A fae banished to the mortal realm for some unknown transgression. E. August is strangely attracted to him for reasons E doesn't entirely understand.
The World-Building and Side Characters
The setting is the start of the new semester at Miskatonic University in Arkham. Most of the other residents of the dorm floor are monsters as well, with a few displaced and outnumbered mortals. These are some of the other side characters:
Akuji: A student from Africa. She is a Witch and was Mara's roommate (now Aradia's). She knows the room is haunted, and is trying to "cleanse the energies" of the room.
Biff and Peter: Roommates. Biff is a Vampire, but whether Peter is some kind of monster or just a Goth human isn't known yet.
Gavin and the Geeks: Gavin is a Queen (the monster type, that is, a manipulator and leader of a loyal clique), and he and the Geeks occupy all of the single rooms on the male corridor of the dorm floor. The Geeks are Alex, J.B., Todd, and Yuri.
Maurice: Maurice is a Fae, and is a drag queen. He (or she... either pronoun is fine) is the RA for this floor and has no roommate.
June: June is a human, but a strange one. She is over 6' tall and built like a bodybuilder. She's awkward and somewhat shy. She was roommates with Aradia (now with Mara).
Lorrie and Margot: Two more Vampires, roommates and lesbians. That's all that's known about them at the moment. They kept to themselves most of the day.
Mr. Lovecraft: Mr. Lovecraft is the Resident Director for Armitage Hall. He somehow knows the characters are monsters, and put them all on the same floor of the same dorm for... his own reasons. Although he has a human guise Mr. Lovecraft is a Slenderman-like eldritch being with his own agenda. Perhaps he is one of the thousand forms of Nyarlathotep? Maybe it was he who was responsible for bringing Mara back for some reason? Who knows? It's a plotline that can possibly be explored later. Mr. Lovecraft didn't appear in the original session, but was mentioned a few times.
Others: There are many other rooms and residents on the floor, but those are the ones we detailed. These nameless, faceless characters can be filled in later as needed or as new PCs if others join the game.
Episode 1: Move-In Day (June 23, 2018)
On move-in day, Chad showed up with his four rowdy dude-bro brothers. They challenged each other to carry Chad's things up all 9 floors without using the elevator. Only Chad wasn't completely exhausted by the ordeal. They purposefully carried his things down the female corridor, showing off for the girls. Chad saw Mara coming out of the elevator, and stopped. He didn't recognize her, but she had such a familiar scent. He knew her somehow. Mara saw him and immediately closed the elevator door again, riding it up and down for a while until she was certain he'd moved on. She remembered him, and what he did to her and her step-mother.
Chad got to know his roommate E. August, but not much. E was like a blank slate. He didn't seem to have much emotion or interest in anything, and even when Chad set up his game console E only seemed to go through the motions of playing. Mara met Akuji, who was burning white sage in their room as a purification ritual. Akuji explained that the room had 'strange energies' and she was freeing it. Once they were moved in, they got to know their floor mates some more. Mara and Akuji went shopping at the university bookstore, and Chad (with E following behind like a lost puppy) went to talk with Biff and Peter about Mara. The two didn't know her, and just advised Chad that if he liked her he should just go talk to her. As he left their room, Maurice confronted him and told him to be respectful and decent to the women on the floor.
In the early evening, Maurice hosted a "get to know you" gathering in the common room. They had to wait for Gavin and the Geeks to finish their D&D session, though. At the party, both Chad and Mara talked with June, and she and Chad made arrangements to be gym-buddies. Mara avoided Chad the entire time, of course, but he was still constantly intrigued by this mystery woman. (The first part of the next session also takes place during this party as part of a retcon to get the new players into the game. The first paragraph of the next session's entry takes place right here.)
Mara encountered Lisa again, who told her to meet her on the roof of the dorm. With that, Lisa wandered away down the hall towards the stairs. Mara tried to follow, but the roof access doors were locked. Lisa just passed right through them. Mara managed to climb out onto the roof from her dorm room window. Lisa asked Mara to get rid of Akuji's white sage, as it can ward off spirits and was hurting her. Mara made a counteroffer... if Lisa found her nice shiny trinkets to satisfy her "plunder" huger, Mara would get rid of the anti-ghost paraphernalia. Lisa agreed and the deal was struck. However... Chad had gone out onto the balcony and was right under Mara and Lisa as they spoke. Thanks to his heightened senses, he overheard the deal-making between Lisa and Mara, and knows something's up with both of them. Lisa didn't even sound like she was there to him, and, strangely, seemed to have no scent at all.
Mara came back down through the stairs, and this time managed to keep the roof access door unlocked. As she stepped off the last step, Chad came through the doors to talk to her. He wanted to know who she was, how he knew her. Cornered in the stairwell alone with no way past this jock, Mara finally snapped. She got up in his face and told him that he owes her a lot, more than he could ever know. He responded by lashing and punching a wall. This startled Mara so much that she fell backwards down the stairwell and was knocked out. Chad immediately came out of his rage and ran to help her, and carried her back to her dorm room. Meanwhile, one of Gavin's Geeks saw him carrying her, and filed that tidbit of gossip away for later. If this bro proved to be a problem, Gavin would have some dirt on him.
Chad Bradington: A jock dude-bro werewolf.Chad was the one who killed Mara. Chad was wolfed out and not in control of himself, and killed Mara and her step-mother a few months before the start of the game... on her graduation night. Chad, the werewolf, is prone to outbursts and violence, but can also be protective of those he brings into his 'pack. '
Mara Wilkins: A ghoul. After being killed by Chad, for some unknown reason Mara came back to life before anyone else knew she was dead. And now they're in the same dorm, just down the hall from each other! Chad doesn't know that he is Mara's killer, and Mara doesn't know how she came back to life. Mara's mother's life insurance policy helped pay for her college, so her death also in a twisted way provided for her future. As a monster type, ghouls have hungers, and Mara's hunger is for plunder. She craves material possessions, trying to fill the hole where her soul used to be with things she feels she deserves to have.
E. August: A hollow. He's not sure where he came from or why he is what he is. He woke up just days ago in a morgue in Arkham. Now he's Chad's roommate on the 9th floor of Armitage Hall. He's been taking his cues on how to be human from Chad. Lars somehow knows that E is not exactly human. (This main character took the place of the side character Bryce.)
Aradia Thalia: A witch. She is June's roommate. During move-in day she managed to steal Chad's high school ring and a strand of Mara's hair as sympathetic tokens. Mara saw her rummaging through Chad's things but hasn't said anything about it.
Lars Belgarth: A fae banished to the mortal realm for some unknown transgression. E. August is strangely attracted to him for reasons E doesn't entirely understand.
The World-Building and Side Characters
The setting is the start of the new semester at Miskatonic University in Arkham. Most of the other residents of the dorm floor are monsters as well, with a few displaced and outnumbered mortals. These are some of the other side characters:
Akuji: A student from Africa. She is a Witch and was Mara's roommate (now Aradia's). She knows the room is haunted, and is trying to "cleanse the energies" of the room.
Biff and Peter: Roommates. Biff is a Vampire, but whether Peter is some kind of monster or just a Goth human isn't known yet.
Gavin and the Geeks: Gavin is a Queen (the monster type, that is, a manipulator and leader of a loyal clique), and he and the Geeks occupy all of the single rooms on the male corridor of the dorm floor. The Geeks are Alex, J.B., Todd, and Yuri.
Maurice: Maurice is a Fae, and is a drag queen. He (or she... either pronoun is fine) is the RA for this floor and has no roommate.
June: June is a human, but a strange one. She is over 6' tall and built like a bodybuilder. She's awkward and somewhat shy. She was roommates with Aradia (now with Mara).
Lorrie and Margot: Two more Vampires, roommates and lesbians. That's all that's known about them at the moment. They kept to themselves most of the day.
Mr. Lovecraft: Mr. Lovecraft is the Resident Director for Armitage Hall. He somehow knows the characters are monsters, and put them all on the same floor of the same dorm for... his own reasons. Although he has a human guise Mr. Lovecraft is a Slenderman-like eldritch being with his own agenda. Perhaps he is one of the thousand forms of Nyarlathotep? Maybe it was he who was responsible for bringing Mara back for some reason? Who knows? It's a plotline that can possibly be explored later. Mr. Lovecraft didn't appear in the original session, but was mentioned a few times.
Others: There are many other rooms and residents on the floor, but those are the ones we detailed. These nameless, faceless characters can be filled in later as needed or as new PCs if others join the game.
Episode 1: Move-In Day (June 23, 2018)
On move-in day, Chad showed up with his four rowdy dude-bro brothers. They challenged each other to carry Chad's things up all 9 floors without using the elevator. Only Chad wasn't completely exhausted by the ordeal. They purposefully carried his things down the female corridor, showing off for the girls. Chad saw Mara coming out of the elevator, and stopped. He didn't recognize her, but she had such a familiar scent. He knew her somehow. Mara saw him and immediately closed the elevator door again, riding it up and down for a while until she was certain he'd moved on. She remembered him, and what he did to her and her step-mother.
Chad got to know his roommate E. August, but not much. E was like a blank slate. He didn't seem to have much emotion or interest in anything, and even when Chad set up his game console E only seemed to go through the motions of playing. Mara met Akuji, who was burning white sage in their room as a purification ritual. Akuji explained that the room had 'strange energies' and she was freeing it. Once they were moved in, they got to know their floor mates some more. Mara and Akuji went shopping at the university bookstore, and Chad (with E following behind like a lost puppy) went to talk with Biff and Peter about Mara. The two didn't know her, and just advised Chad that if he liked her he should just go talk to her. As he left their room, Maurice confronted him and told him to be respectful and decent to the women on the floor.
In the early evening, Maurice hosted a "get to know you" gathering in the common room. They had to wait for Gavin and the Geeks to finish their D&D session, though. At the party, both Chad and Mara talked with June, and she and Chad made arrangements to be gym-buddies. Mara avoided Chad the entire time, of course, but he was still constantly intrigued by this mystery woman. (The first part of the next session also takes place during this party as part of a retcon to get the new players into the game. The first paragraph of the next session's entry takes place right here.)
Mara encountered Lisa again, who told her to meet her on the roof of the dorm. With that, Lisa wandered away down the hall towards the stairs. Mara tried to follow, but the roof access doors were locked. Lisa just passed right through them. Mara managed to climb out onto the roof from her dorm room window. Lisa asked Mara to get rid of Akuji's white sage, as it can ward off spirits and was hurting her. Mara made a counteroffer... if Lisa found her nice shiny trinkets to satisfy her "plunder" huger, Mara would get rid of the anti-ghost paraphernalia. Lisa agreed and the deal was struck. However... Chad had gone out onto the balcony and was right under Mara and Lisa as they spoke. Thanks to his heightened senses, he overheard the deal-making between Lisa and Mara, and knows something's up with both of them. Lisa didn't even sound like she was there to him, and, strangely, seemed to have no scent at all.
Mara came back down through the stairs, and this time managed to keep the roof access door unlocked. As she stepped off the last step, Chad came through the doors to talk to her. He wanted to know who she was, how he knew her. Cornered in the stairwell alone with no way past this jock, Mara finally snapped. She got up in his face and told him that he owes her a lot, more than he could ever know. He responded by lashing and punching a wall. This startled Mara so much that she fell backwards down the stairwell and was knocked out. Chad immediately came out of his rage and ran to help her, and carried her back to her dorm room. Meanwhile, one of Gavin's Geeks saw him carrying her, and filed that tidbit of gossip away for later. If this bro proved to be a problem, Gavin would have some dirt on him.