Skins for the Skinless adds new depth and complexity to the Monsterhearts rpg. The Skins it introduces each have their own unique take on the game and help fill the gap of Stat placements from the core book for those who actually worry about the crunch of Monsterhearts.

I will touch on the Skins and give personal feedback if I have played and/or had a player utilize one of the Skins in a game I have played.

The Beast - Easily one of my favorites of the batch, the Beast is based off a classic cult movie Cat People and the archetypal teenager who doesn't understand how their hormones are changing their body. The Beast brings new joys and dramas to the static Turn Someone On move by being able to react by losing their human form, mental state, or morality and their personal Moves play off each of those states in different ways! Each time you lose control and become Feral your choices change and you can make people think about how and when to arouse your interests.

The Calaca - A sugar skull dead being and the 'best friend' archetype, the Calaca is the laughing celebrator reaction to the Ghoul and Ghost from the Core book. The moves don't make them any less creepy, however! This Skin can, well, slip from theirs! Take off your skin and dance with the dead, use the humor you learned while dead to scare people into submission, and rebuild yourself from bones you collect! In my first ever game of Monsterhearts I found that the Skin, while chipper and up beat, is still feral and creepy. Just tell them they need a new outer layer and watch the drama fly.

The Creature - A nice mixture of the Mermaid/Deep One style mythology and the Activist archetype, the Creature starts as a nature-savior and heavy duty eco-warrior. However, with a bit of fiddling it can be made to fit nearly any type of game away from the water. I played one as a London drag queen whose territory was his drag club, for example. The Moves of this skin blend well with it but outside of aquatic locales they can be a bit gimicky without mild to moderate work.

The Fury - Ah, another of my favorites. The Fury is the psychics of Carrie fame and the archetype of the 'victim.' You are one of the most powerful Skins, offensively, and like the Werewolf from the core it only gets stronger when they go into their Darkest Self. You can get into your Darkest Self by being betrayed or people taking advantage of you. Of course, every time they do they make you 100x more powerful and make themselves a target of your wrath. And every Darkest Self it is just a bit harder to come back.

The Gargoyle - Now I do not like this Skin but I have never played a game that was very school or single location focused. The Gargoyle is a very unique Skin, able to come back from death and even vomit boiling water or fire. While I cannot go into a great bit of detail about how this Skin would perform, it did start me on my own path of Skin development.

The Harpy - Another great Skin, the Harpy is a good show that just because Skins are a mishmash of mythology, psychology, and sociology that they don't need to heavily focus on the supernatural aspects. The Harpy has two overtly supernatural Moves and the rest are about social dominance through fear or violence. It is a great Skin to be a mean girl or even try and soften up the bitter bird heart that is in the breast of every Harpy.

The Minotaur - A Skin I had the pleasure (and currently do as well) of having in a game I ran. The Minotaur is the bully archetype but where as the Harpy is the social bully the Minotaur is all about getting in people's business and ruining their good time. It is also about being very sweet to those who please you because deep down you just want to be accepted, especially if you get to break some heads along the way.

The Mummy – In the game I currently play in one of the characters is a Mummy. The Mummy is a fun, dead being brought back to life and exemplifies the foreign student or the rich student pretty well. The Moves are what are really to be desired here: I do not think I have ever run a game where the Mummy was not banned for a beginner's game that someone did not take a Mummy Move or two to round out their character if no one was playing one. And, of course, Cursed Idols are just begging to be used by anyone when the Move is taken.

The Muse – My current character, the Muse is Cyrano de Bergerac and the Count of Monte Cristo. The Muse plays off the drama of Monsterhearts wonderfully, probably the best of any of these Skins because of how it ties to another character and can make their life wonderful (if they let you control them) or ruin it (if they seek their own happiness). It also helps that Punjab Lasso has to be my favorite Move in all of Monsterhearts!

The Proxy – Now I will admit in the beginning of my Monsterhearts career I didn't much like the Proxy. But, as time has gone on I have really grown to enjoy the Proxy. The sheer weirdness of the Skin and the fun of messing with people without being in the same scene they are in is excellent and requires good creativity that always surprises me when players come up with ways to pull this off.

The Unchained – With this Skin you get the best of all worlds! A Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde take on the Skin you get to effectively play two characters. The inner turmoil of being two different people and feeling like you are being tugged in many different directions is a very teenage (and human) feeling that is extremely well explored by this Skin. The one bad side with this Skin is that the Moves are custom made for an Unchained and don't split well into other Skins.

The Unseen – Beautifully crafted and creepily dark, the Unseen is the only Skin I have ever played that made someone invoke the X-Card of Safehearts fame. The Unseen is the ignored kid taken to 11 mixed with the Urban Legend. Learn to take out your vengeance on those who bypass you by destroying what they love, gathering their attention however you feel is necessary. The invisibility aspect means this is probably best for small games or play by post ones where there is a bit more track work to look back on what they have done.

In summation Skins for the Skinless brings twelve new Skins to the Monsterhearts core ten Skins and brings grand new choices and chances for rping in the wonderful world that is Monsterhearts. The pay what you want format is wonderfully nice and can give you a chance to check everything out without any loss. Pass the author some cash for his hard work on this excellent game supplement and enjoy 12 new ways to be a dysfunctional drama teen.