In a nearly-depleted coal mining town, the residents find themselves trying to survive a sudden and worsening blizzard. Terror strikes as crime worsens, following a new sheriff inducted to town. The local party girl has gone missing, and the blizzard that shares her name spirals the town into opening up its worst secrets.

After following a group of player characters through 3 different TTRPGs in 3 unique settings, the actual play podcast Some Place to Be is beginning its 4th season in Monsterhearts 2 by Avery Alder.  Each season of Some Place to Be follows the same group of characters waking up in a new setting and genre, each unique to the TTRPG being played. This allows for exploration of how mechanics shape characterization. A book club episode of the TTRPG kicks off every season with in-depth discussion of mechanics.

"Some Place to Be has quickly become my #1 Show I Am So Very Normal About, and every season adds one more layer of that." - @curubethion.bsky.social‬

In previous seasons, the SP2B characters have gone from mundane college kids and dropouts, to flamboyant members of a fae court, to alien-fighting transforming heroes. Now in season 4, the characters have become closeted queer monsters in a middle-of-nowhere small town overrun by a blizzard. Monsterhearts 2 is a game about the drama and love-lives of monstrous young people and the new season setting is inspired by Scarlet Hollow, Life Is Strange: True Colors, Night in the Woods, and winter fairytales.

“The concept of the podcast is intriguing enough, but what really makes it stand out is the collaboration of storytellers finding the narrative together through messy relationships, different gameplay styles, and the end of the world.”‪ - @janinejuliet.bsky.social‬

Monsterhearts was first published in 2012 and its second edition was published in 2017. Because the game has been around for so long and is so well loved, a large amount of 3rd party supplements have been made for both editions. The Some Place to Be cast revels in this by playing with a number of 3rd party playbooks, known as Skins in Monsterhearts. The season will heavily feature The Goblin and The Succubus by Isabelle M. Ruebsaat and The Minotaur by season 4’s master of ceremonies, Josephine Kim.

“Some Place to Be is a great listen. It's so much fun and a good look at some unique games.” - @nerdyteddi.bsky.social

Every actual play group working with Monsterhearts 2 has their own philosophy about how monstrosity manifests - more human-like or exclusive to the Darkest Self. Some Place to Be is guided by the book, going for an application of monstrosity as “visible queerness”. Everyone queer in town has a monster skin. Meanwhile, people seeking the status quo, their parents and the people who hold corrupt and systemic power, see monstrous features through their homophobic lens. Most of these parents don’t want their kids to stand out in any way but a missing person case has brought more scrutiny and a new sheriff to town.

“[Monsterhearts 2] explores the terror and confusion of having a body that is changing without your permission. The monstrosity of these characters is literal: they are vampires, werewolves, witches, and more. But their monstrosity is also allegorical, standing in for experiences of alienation, shame, queerness, and self-destruction.” (Alder, 2017, p. 7)

Some Place to Be is made by an all queer, majority trans, half POC, and half asexual and/or aromantic cast and the main characters reflect this perspective. Monsterhearts 2 is a homecoming for the cast as many of us met playing the game during the Clever Corvids Productions Marathon for Choice raising funds for abortion access in Texas. During the initial planning stages of SP2B, MH2 was the first game chosen for a future season of the show, planned for years in advance. Every game played in a full season so far has cited Alder’s work as a direct influence, with Dream Askew for Butterfly Court and with MH2 for both We Used to Be Friends and Burning Hearts Forever.

Statement from Season 4 Master of Ceremonies Josephine: Monsterhearts 2 is my favorite TTRPG for a lot of reasons, but namely my favorite subgenres of horror are intimate, personal, and erotic horror. Body horror and gore are exciting to me, sure, but my actual day-to-day horrors involve maintaining my intimate relationships. Not just about romantic and sexual relationships, but my feelings about friends and family are just as anxiety ridden. We shouldn’t have to reconcile our fundamental self-truths and the things we can’t control, but that’s not always reality. I love winter-based horrors because I have a sick fascination with the implications of ice and snow in stories, but there’s also the claustrophobia, the survival, and the need for warmth. In this season, with the help of all my castmates, we’re telling an isolating and intimate story in the icy grip of a blizzard when we need community the most. What if we were a bunch of lonely, sexy monsters reaching out to each other? Finding the attraction to others’ monstrosity, and finding ours just as sexy in the long run?

Our characters are in different phases with their sexual openness which is reflected in their Skin choices. For example, Skin choice can show that they are someone who uses their sexuality as a tool for attention, like the succubus. It can mean someone is even more comfortable with their expression, having no insecurities or dysphoria about their queerness, so that they don’t have a more monstrous form, like the mortal. Their insecurities might be more about their parents being in jail. You can’t escape from yourself changing, you definitely can’t escape what people feel about you in a small mining town. Returning to the small town structure with this setting, these insecurities are heightened because every player character’s family is involved in small to big ways. We also see a guest in this season’s cast - acting as a mysterious agent of chaos. This season there are more inner party romances and sexual conflicts - with first sexual experiences and frequent, toxic relationships.

“The more I listen to APs and think about the art form as a whole the more I see how innovative and exceptional SPtB is! I think centering indie RPGs and being intentional with casting and game choice is a great direction that I hope more shows follow!” - @altruest.bsky.social

Some Place to Be’s format allows the players to explore the genders of their characters in a unique way. In each place we visit, characters can have totally different genders than what they’ve personally experienced before. For example, the character Vic has had a different gender in every season while the character Yanna is learning more about her true self with every change. Each main character is dealing with their queerness and gender in unique ways.

“my favorite genre-hopping AP!” - @tensei.bardrockcafe.com

This is a horror season with more character driven crime, murder, and sex than other seasons. Refer to each episode’s content warnings, some episodes may be ones to sit out as subtle homophobia and transphobia will be referenced. In this season be ready for more manipulation, more cheating, and less money to throw around.

Some Place to Be Season 4 in Monsterhearts 2 will premier on March 26th with a book club discussion of the TTRPG.

About Season 1

“I just started and so I'm in S1 but I really like the table-talk left in regarding how to actually apply the rules. It's something more shows could stand to do and shows what I think is both a healthier and more authentic version of actually playing games with a group.” - @nerdysimulation.titterpig.academy

In a small college, everyone knows everyone. In a small college in a small town, this is even worse. When an anonymous third party starts sharing everyone's secrets, even a sleepy college town like Puddingstone has its share of mysteries to solve.

Season 1 was played in the social drama detective game We Used to Be Friends by Jonathan Lavallee.

About Season 2

“@someplacetobe.neocities.org focuses squarely on character and collaborative storytelling in a way that's refreshing and breathtaking. I've mentioned before how they seamlessly operate with a GM-less system, but it's even more true now that I know they've stuck the landing.” - @gamemastermonday.bsky.social‬

In the shelter of an otherworldly mangrove forest—turned bustling fae city, a flamboyant group of nobles squabble for status. The Queen is in need of a match, a folk hero thief has been stirring up trouble, and a dark prophecy foretells of a coming meteor shower.

Waking up in a realm both familiar and unfamiliar, our characters are faced with balancing noble duties against the vivid memories of life in a small college town. Even here, secrets aren't kept for long. Some things never change.

Season 2 was played in the GM-less court intrigue game Butterfly Court by Misha Grifka Wander.

About Season 3

"it's messier than you think.  No no, messier.  Keep going.  Yeah, it's got THAT kinda juice" -  #1 Maevis shipper North America

In a sunny beachside city, a secret agency works to defend the world from destruction at the hands of an intergalactic empire. Every week, the evil general Bolidé leads the forces of Asterico to attack the city of Keystone. Thwarting their plans are the Sympaths, biomechanical heroes formed from alien symbiotes. After much struggle, Bolidé appears to be defeated, but will this peace truly last?

Season 3 was played in the action and social drama game Burning Hearts Forever by Eva Terra.

About the Cast:

The Master of Ceremonies and Avis Nam is played by Josephine. You can find her at scarydogfriend on Bluesky, and you can find her co-producing BadHouseRPG on Twitch and YouTube. 

Angel Perez is played by Rem. You can find her on Bluesky or Tumblr @remspeedwagon.

Yanna L. Xintara is played by Nada (or) Amir. You can find them at @ tallrowlett.bsky.social and you can find her published games at plusoneexp's shop. 

Maeve Monroe is played by Siobhan who also helps edit the show. You can find her @ spellboundmage.bsky.social, and you can watch her video game streams as runawaysorcery on twitch with archives on youtube. 

Victoria "Tori" Castelli is played by Cassidy who also edits the show and website. You can find Cassidy on bsky @ashteroids or on twitch sometimes @ madlobotanist.

Lane Warren is played by Livi. You can find her @livicottle.net on bsky and watch her streams as livicottle on twitch.