Playing the Selkie

Confused, homesick, curious, and foreign. The Selkie

draws power from water, and has an inner yearning
that other people instinctively respond to. They are a
immigrant caught between kingdoms. Will they stay on
the land, or return to the sea?

The two stat options show the Selkie as either an

enchanting outsider with secrets (Hot 2 & Dark 1) or
an introspective stranger who doesn’t put up with
anyone’s shit (Cold 2 & Dark 1). In either case, the low
Volatile stat means they make decisions carefully.

A Selkie who has removed their pelt appears to be a

regular human. Donning the pelt transforms them into
a seal. A Selkie who has their pelt can choose to return
to their home in the ocean, the Deep Kingdom – but the
decision, once the player makes it, is irrevocable.

When your seal pelt is missing, you are still able to

enter the water and swim as well as a human can.
Outer Skin doesn’t work, but all your other moves do.

Mechanically, it’s great for you when someone else has

your pelt. If you throw yourself into doing the tasks
they put before you, Keep Away will provide Strings,
bonuses, and plenty of interesting situations. It also
gives you a reason to care about the same things other
characters care about. Forcing them to return it might
not be as interesting.

The Selkie
If you’re the MC, ask questions about the Deep
Kingdom which help the Selkie anchor it as a
wonderful, desireable place – but a place missing the
things that makes life here on land wonderful. Use your
The weight and crash of the water was your first home. You were born
Side Characters to help play keep-away with the pelt.
beneath the waves, with an outer pelt you can remove. When you wear it
Make sure you set the game in a seaside town.
you look just like a seal. And when you take it off, you feel raw and beautiful.

Credits
You’re living on land now, far away from everything you’ve known. Shocked
by newness, enticed by possibility, burdened by homesickness. The air moves
fast over you. What do they call it?
This Skin designed by Jackson Tegu, available at photographsoflightning.com
Ah, wind.
Play this with Monsterhearts 2, available at buriedwithoutceremony.com

Identity
Name: Bersh, Dominic, Fiona,
Jasdeep, John, Louie, Mattieu,
Nula, Phillipa, Rowan
Look: mussed, bedraggled, damp,
sleek, riveting, foreign
Your Backstory
You watched someone swimming.
Gain a String on them.
Someone stole your pelt, and
they’ve figured out how important
it is to you. They said they’ll give it
back if you do something for them.
Each gain a String on one another.
Darkest Self
People have mistreated you and
made you an outcast here. It’s
Eyes: confused eyes, deep eyes,
glistening eyes, oil-drop eyes,
far away eyes
Origin: like grandmother, fled,
enticed from the sea by art,
breaking the rules, curious
Strings
Harm
Experience 
Selkie Moves
You get Outer Skin and Keep Away,
and choose one more:
 Outer Skin
Wear your pelt to look like a seal,
breathe underwater, and swim
incredibly fast. While wearing it,
you can choose to return to The
Deep Kingdom. If you do it’s for
good, so make a new character.
 Keep Away
People can steal your pelt but
can’t destroy it. When you pursue
a task the current holder asked of
you, add 1 to rolls.
If the holder doesn’t return your
pelt after you complete the task,
gain a String on them, and add 1
to rolls against them until they
give you a new task.
 Body of Water
When you go a day without
 Siren Song
When you’re soaking wet, you
can sing a haunting song. Those
who can hear it give you their
full attention. What additional
effect does it have on them?
 They stumble entranced
toward you (but stop before
injuring themselves).
 They connect with its
emotions and begin crying.
 Ocean’s Breath
When you feel really homesick,
choose one for the MC to detail:
 The ocean brings forth
something that it thinks will
make you feel better.
 The ocean takes away
something that it thinks is
bothering you.
However, the ocean doesn’t
understand the human world
very well and may cause serious
or unexplainable damage in the
process.

time to show them how it feels submerging yourself in water,

to be lost at sea, to be apart
from the things you have loved,
to have parts of your self stolen
from you. So you will flood the
Earth. You will destroy what they
cherish. And you will take their
pelts. You escape your Darkest
Self when this place reminds you
of home, or when you recognize
what you came here for.
 Add +1 to one of your stats.
 Take another Selkie move.
 Take another Selkie move.
 Take a move from any Skin.
 Take a move from any Skin.
 You meet Strange Fishermen.
Conditions
take 1 Harm. Whenever you
submerge yourself in water
and can relax, heal 1 Harm and
cleanse yourself of a Condition.
 Catch of the Day
Whenever you don’t understand
what’s going on or what someone
means, and it gets you into
trouble or leads you to make
unwise choices, mark experience.

Hot -1 Cold 2 Volatile -1 Dark 1

Sex
When you have sex with someone, it counts as submerging
yourself in water. Since all oceans tell you their secrets,
Hot 2 Cold -1 Volatile -1 Dark 1 Move gain a String on someone else they’ve had sex with.