Summerwood (Monsterhearts 2)

Game Master neonblues

I'd like to try running a campaign of Monsterhearts 2, a Powered by the Apocalypse game about relationships and teenage monsters. I'm a little new to the system myself but I'll help guide any newbies as much as I can.
The reference PDF with the basics (including the Skins and character creation rules) is here.
To keep things simple, let's stick with just the core Skins for now (no Chosen or Serpentine).

Monsterhearts is a game driven primarily by social interactions. There will be danger, intrigue, and life-threatening situations, but it's not a combat-focused system. Think less Buffy and more True Blood.

The PCs are newly arrived freshmen at Summerwood University, an elite private college on the East Coast. The school is highly exclusive, but has been known to offer scholarships to unusually "talented" applicants. There are rumors of mysterious, supernatural events and sinister dealings among the students and faculty… but that's probably nothing to be concerned about.
We'll begin a few weeks into your first semester. You have been at the school long enough to get to know some of your fellow undergrads (though you might not yet have learned about their supernatural nature...or even your own).

Some ground rules for the campaign:
1. Post at least twice a week. If you're going to be out of town or something, just let us know in the discussion thread.
2. Keep all sexual content PG-13. Sex is one of the game's central mechanics, but I'd rather this not be a game where we describe actual sex acts. Make use of narrative "cutaways" as appropriate. All of the PCs are 18, and any sex that takes place in the game must be between consenting adult characters who are 18+.
3. I'll be making use of the X-Card system described in the game's handbook. If something comes up during the game that makes you uncomfortable, just say "X-Card" and quote the relevant passage; that subject matter will be retconned and avoided from that point forward. All players will be expected to respect the use of the X-Card; please take it seriously and don't be a dick.

To submit a PC for recruitment, include the following details about them:

Name
Skin (no more than one PC per Skin will be accepted, so feel free to submit multiple PCs)
Gender
Sexual Orientation (This will help inform what side characters I add. Note that "Undecided" or "Questioning" are valid options, and you may choose to have the PC's self-identity change or evolve as the game progresses; it is college, after all.)
A brief backstory (This can be a general summary or a narrative passage that conveys the character's background and personality. We'll work out the actual "Your Backstory" portion of your playbook once recruitment is closed.)

Recruitment is open until I decide we have enough people.

Name: Ashton
Skin: Werewolf
Gender: Cis Man
Sexual Orientation: Gay

Backstory: Born to a working class family, Ashton never really expected that he would make it to college in the first place. He had other things to worry about, like making ends meet and just getting through high school in the first place and dealing with his parents who made clear how little they thought of him.

Of course he dreamed of escaping, getting anywhere but his hometown seemed like a snare that would drag him down regardless of what he did. And he had so many secrets weighing him down--like how he had realized that he was gay but was determined to keep anyone from finding it.

And at night the he heard the moon calling to him; he'd slip out of his house and run under the stars, leaving his human form behind and transforming into a wolf. He hadn't been bitten and as far as he could tell he was the only literal monster in his family. He thought maybe that would be his way out--he'd run into the woods and just never come out again.

But it turned out he had another option. He was good at something--really good at it, in fact. He was a good enough soccer player to end up with a scholarship to the distant Summerwood University. He leapt at the chance, ready to go anywhere that wasn't his home. Summerwood was strange, but he was confident he could keep all his secrets there and finally find a place where he could really be free.

I can expand on this if needed.

Name: Joshua Joseph "JJ" Williams
Skin: Infernal
Gender/Sexuality: Cis Male, Gay
JJ was given a full-ride scholarship to Summerwood through a mysterious benefactor. He doesn't know why, only that his parents made some kind of deal to get him here. They warned him to not accept any strange correspondence, but there was this letter, right in his welcome packet on his new bed in the dorms, which put him in contact with a mysterious "Mr. Malphas", who said if he had any trouble, to drop him a call or text at this one particular number. Since then, and maybe a dozen texts later, a few strange things have happened around campus, but JJ hasn't quite put it together yet...

Name: Deirdre
Skin: Mortal
Gender: Cis Female
Sexuality: Undecided

Backstory: Deirdre is a perfectly ordinary girl from a small town. Smart and pretty, she excelled in school, and her hard work earned her a spot in the exclusive Summerwood University! She's headed to college with wide-eyed eagerness and a distinct lack of understanding about how the world actually works. Everything's always gone her way, after all! Quick to fall in love and with a penchant for sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, it's only a matter of time before she gets in over her head...

Name: Jessica "Jess" Stone
Skin: Witch
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Cis Female, Bi

Backstory synopsis:
Jess is a suburban girl from Normalsville, USA. She grew up in a nuclear family in a decent-sized ranch house with a big backyard. Her parents drove Kias and there were frequent trips to Target and the local mall. It was safe, tidy, and horribly boring. Jess was forever trying to do things to alleviate the sense of ennui she felt, including "boy things" like martial arts, skateboarding, and hitting on pretty girls. This all made her "different", and she took some grief for it, finding her only real friends among the other outcasts.

This eventually led her to 'witchcraft' and all of the nonsense that it usually associated with it on the surface. But after a time, she found a book that contained spells that actually seemed to work... she read the book over and over, practicing everything in it until she no longer needed the book to make the hexes work.

She applied to Summerwood specifically because it is nowhere near her hometown, because she wants a clean slate, and a chance to start over without preconceptions. The rumors about supernatural occurrences might have had something to do with it, too...

Name: Hayden Greenwood
Skin: Fae
Gender: Nonbinary (She/her)
Sexual Orientation: Pan, but primarily male-attracted, historically speaking.

Some kids have a hard time coming out, but Hayden's mom was totally supportive. The only thing that was a little weird was that her mom went real quiet when she wanted to make a special trip to visit her dad to tell him.

It just didn't seem like something that should happen in a phone call or a letter, or that could wait until the next time her tumbled through town.

But her mom... "I don't think that's a good idea."

What surer way was there to get Hayden to go?

Her dad was delighted to see her; he said he'd been planning on taking her on a special trip soon anyways to a sort of 'family reunion.'

Of course she went; she didn't know anything about her family on his side. But instead of taking a car or a plane, they went out to the woods and left through a ring of toadstools.

Depending on who you ask, and how many of her dreams really happened, she was gone for somewhere between three sunsets and three years.

Her dad didn't come back with her when she escaped the faery realm, his home from long before he'd met her mother. She and he were supposed to stay; she'd promised she would stay.

She can still feel that broken promise like a noose round her neck.

Maybe they won't find her now that she's far from home? Maybe they'll listen to reason, and they won't take her back?
Maybe they'd take someone else instead...

Five is a good number, but I'll leave recruitment open another day or two in case we get any more. The following skins are yet unclaimed:
Ghost, Ghoul, Hollow, Queen, Vampire

All current applicants are accepted! Feel free to make character profiles, pick your moves, and start working out who will get what backstory strings in the discussion thread.

Would you be interested in a sixth? I know I'm really late to the party but I've been looking for a Monsterhearts game for a while.

Sure! The players just arrived at a party, so it's a good opportunity to work you in. Go ahead and write up the details for your character like the others in this thread.

Name: Fahed ibn Haram
Skin: Vampire
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Straight before he was turned, but his appetite has expanded.

Backstory synopsis: Fahed was born to a wealthy Middle Eastern family, and spent most of his life moving around. When it was time to select a college he picked Summerwood because the idyllic campus. His family bought a large appartment for him to live in eventhough they still had to pay for his assigned dorm.

During a post move in day party, he became suddenly ill. Several people thought he just couldn't hold his liquor but someone drove him to the hospital where they found he was likely suffering from Long QT syndrome. His family insisted he be seen by a "family doctor" and had Fahed flown to Kuwait. There he found out a terrible secret, his family were vampires, and have been for some time, it always struck him as odd that great-great-great-grandfater was still making it to family reunions. Normally they would wait until after members had children to turn them but the concerns over his newly diagnosed heart condition, the family sped up the process.

He was hoping to get back to school before the weekend, but a delayed flight kept him away until classes were out Friday afternoon. His family had sent in doctors notes to ensure Fahed enrollment wouldn't be affected.

(Look good?)

Looks good! Go ahead and make an alias with the rest of your character details in the profile.

To late to join in?

Name: Pandora Simmons
Skin: Hollow
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Undecided
Backstory synopsis: Newly arrived at Summerwood University, investigations into Eve reveal little in the way of a background. There's a reason for this; In fact, Eve is a newly-created prototype bio-mechanical lifeform, created as a new approach to artificial intelligence integrating biological and synthetic techniques as a secret collaborative project into between a number of researchers across faculties at the university. Wanting to test their creation, and to provide more data for her to emulate, she has been enrolled as a student at the university.

How's this

Fahed: Looks good! I'll post something in the gameplay thread soon to work you in.

Pandora (or is it Eve?): Sure, the more the merrier! Go ahead and make an alias.

Yay, new friends!

"Friends"