Our first game, Human-Hunter-Monster-Cannibal, is about mostly-isolated villages in <insert country of origin here> trying to survive. It takes place in early Spring and begins with a "Festival of Renewal".
Many countries and many traditions have festivals or celebrations to greet the Spring planting. It is an opportunity to come together as the sun melts the last of the snow away. It is the last chance for people to relax before the planting and good weather make demands on the whole Village. It is a celebration of life, an initiation for those who are barely old enough into the responsibilities of survival.
It is a universal symbol.
But HHMC is also about the darker side of survival, and the darker side of the symbol of Spring. Ice that has marked the local lake as safe passage can be deadly to cross. The wilds around the Village are home to creatures that have spent Winter either in hibernation or starving. Many beasts enter their mating season with new aggression.
In HHMC, there is a dichotomy in the Spring Ritual that coincides with the alignment of the planets or an ominous eclipse. These things, happening all at once, lead to a Conjunction: a time full of power waiting to be used by those keen to its subtleties.
An isolated Village might turn people away. It might even turn creatures pretending to be people away, but the Spring Festival also brings the first people who've been able to cross the high passes. Trade can be both lifeblood of a community, and the connection to the outside world. It's hard to turn every outsider away, especially when one could be your godparent who only visits once a year.
Between all the new faces and people arriving for the festivities, in slip some Monsters pretending to be Human. By the end of the game, it is possible that Monsters are all that is left, and they create a Sanctuary for their own kind. But, in general, most Villages have a good mix of Humans and are threatened by a few Monsters besides.
Monsters have a preferred meal, but also seek to survive. HHMC simplifies (and in some places, exaggerates) this to the idea that they prefer certain diets and habits that create certain Humans. A trader, for example, spends long hours at the front of their wagon going from place to place. They have a more varied diet than most, eating whatever food is available wherever they stop along their path. A member of the clergy or nobility will eat and act differently. Each Monster prefers something special.
The Cannibal is a Human Monster, with the added gimmick that they will also prefer a certain consistency of flesh, but this is no particular Cannibal, historical or otherwise. Thus, their diet can change, even during gameplay. Originally, there was to be a certain sense of the Cannibal avoiding the Law, but that's too modern a look for the overarching gothic theme. The Cannibal is still cunning. Thankfully, there's only one. (Which is better than being surrounded by a sea of un-dead cannibals, in my opinion.)
The Cannibal only strikes when night falls, which coincides with when the party ends (for most) and soon before Monsters strike, adding to the confusion. The Monsters are fast -- they will roam to nearby Villages to follow the scent of their preferred meal, but they are simply trying to survive. If they can't eat what they want, they'll eat what they must, which (if you've planned it correctly) may include the Cannibal.
If you've survived, your Village compares itself to others. A thriving Village includes people with all sorts of callings. You need farmers, yes. But you also need someone with medical knowledge, and someone else to watch the animals. A hunter knows to salt or smoke their meat so that it lasts longer; an official of some kind sees to it that all sorts of work gets done. Hard labourers and builders construct and repair what needs doing... If you have people of all walks of life, your Village thrives.
Monsters, in their Sanctuary, are more clique-based than Humans (although my experiences in high school may suggest otherwise). They will grudgingly tolerate creatures that are not of their ilk if they must. Thus, a Sanctuary with more of a single type of Monster -- such as all Ancient Beings, or Faeries -- thrives better.
Thus, HHMC is about renewals and the natural law of social gatherings. In the end, it is also about the universal need for survival, and the Human drive to go beyond.
Or so its story goes.
-MSB
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