We managed to get a session of Monster of the Week away a few weeks ago. I'd been wanting to give the game a try, having already sampled it one year at Free RPG Day. I've been interested in Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) games for some time now - namely those games which use Apocalypse World as their rules engine.
One of the reasons I reached for Monster of the Week this weekend is that it is something you can run at relatively short notice. Players can be sent their character 'play books' chosen from a list of key milieu tropes, make a few decisions - more of a box ticking exercise - and you can quickly end up with a new party within a very short time indeed.
Monster of the Week, in case you are not familiar with it, re-creates the monster hunting fiction of television drama of the last 30 years, with special reference to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the X-Files and Supernatural. Characters are 'professional' monster hunters.
Another aspect I enjoy is how the game encourages you to tie together the back stories of the various characters. We quickly established that Shi Guan, our Chosen hero, had fought the Monstrous Grimshaw in one of her first missions, but quickly realised Grimshaw could be a source for good. Grimshaw is quite a unique entity - a fae demon that looks more like a short, blond, sexually ambiguous individual, but with pointed teeth and a joy of battle.
It is this sort of interesting detail that Monster of the Week readily brings to the fore. Shi Guan was teamed up with the Divine, Solas, her mentor, along with an old training camp buddy and failed candidate for the role of Chosen, Beatrix 'Bea' Blair, the Spooky (psychic).
Hey presto, you have a group of heroes with a backstory. We know Shi Guan wields an ancestral katana, and is mentioned in a prophecy involving hordes of monsters. We know Grimshaw is preternaturally fast, with an alien 'second mouth' attack. We know Bea has a dark side motivated by rage, violence and pain. These are already becoming very interesting characters that you would expect to see in a TV show.
And so off to Gloucestershire....
I used the introductory adventure in the game as I wanted to explore the mechanics of the system. This took the group to a small village in the Cotswolds where there had been freak storms and poltergeist activity. The key was getting the players used to the various basic moves they could use, coupled with familiarising themselves with the unique moves on their playbooks (character sheets).
We had great fun. The system uses a 2d6 + attribute bonus core mechanic. Players have access to a range of basic moves plus specialist moves from their own character playbook. I should have provided them with a cheat sheet explaining all the basic moves in detail, as this would have saved explanation, and is something I will do routinely for PbtA games going forward.
One area I was in two minds about going into this was the Use Magic move, which gives every PC access to low level magic as a routine move; I was a bit concerned this would make them too powerful, on top of their other powers, but in the end it did not come in for any abuse and there is scope with every use of magic for it to backfire. It was mainly used for relatively routine tasks - e.g. dispelling a glamour, waking a character that had been magically put to sleep, or eavesdropping on a conversation.
I had only played in a couple of PbtA games previously, and never run one, so it took me a while to get my head around the mechanics, which are a little different from other RPGs I have played previously, but I think we got there in the end.
I think I'd be happy to reach for Monster of the Week again in the future when a game is needed at relatively short notice - who knows, maybe Shi Guan and her team will venture forth again?
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