Bumps in the Night - A Monster of the Week Review

Evil Hat Games

Monster of the Week

Published by Evil Hat Productions (Revised Edition 2015)

Written by Michael Sands

Licensed roleplaying games are bigger than ever, with even confined, main character-driven settings like Cowyboy Bebop and Blade Runner getting official systems. Avatar: Legends, based on the beloved, element-bending, had a record-breaking 10 million dollar Kickstarter.

But that doesn't mean every licensed RPG is a winner - the negative response to the recent Power Rangers shows us the limits of this trend. And even the best ones still leave game masters and players acting out adventures that often feel like a sideshow to the property's main story. I've played, enjoyed, and written plenty about licensed games but that's something always in the back of my mind. So what if you want to capture the atmosphere of a specific story but let the players take more of a role in the world?

That's where games like Monster of the Week come in. The book is very open about its influences,  actively promoting itself as being in the vein of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, X-Files, Supernatural, and those shows' creature-killing ilk. Using Powered by the Apocalypse for the mechanics, Monster of the Week shows the benefits of emulating an entire genre rather than a specific setting.

Evil Hat Games

The book puts the emphasis on getting right into play, broken up into digestible sections tailored to how quickly the table wants to get into a game. Even then, some more involved info is given for long term campaigns. Keepers are provided a wide range of support, like example monsters, mechanics for running story arcs, and advice on crafting a satisfying mystery. 

Some of this advice isn't specific to Monster of the Week but that's what makes it effective direction and plays to the overall ethos of PBtA - you're not playing

a game so much as telling a story. That's why Monster of the Week lacks its own setting, as that's for the table to create along the way.

Particularly, the Keeper is reminded to keep Monsters consistent, in the sense that if you establish a rule about say, vampires and werewolves, you should stick to it. The same goes for any shadowy organizations or larger threats introduced. After all, while the variety of X-Files and Buffy are part of their success, so was the mythology those shows gradually built up over time.

Make Some Moves

Powered by the Apocalypse has proven to be a very divisive system and not without good reason. Like many of its peers, Monster of the Week emphasizes that the game master (In this case referred to as the Keeper) is just another player, albeit one with unique responsibilities. 

Monster of the Week instructs Keepers to create the cast, circumstances, the monster itself, and have a few setpieces in mind. But they're discouraged from scripting out the story, as it's the players who decide what happens both through their actions and which threads they pursue.

Keepers never roll dice - only the other, non-Keeper players do, so there isn't a need to fudge rolls to keep the story on track. Monster of the Week emphasizes that everything the Keeper does should  push events forward in a satisfying way.

Basic tasks don't require rolls; anything complex or uncertain uses a Move. For Moves, players roll a 2D6 with the relevant Rating bonus applied. In Monster of the Week, the provided Moves are broad enough to avoid any rule arguments but tailored for the genre with the likes of "Read a Bad Situation" and "Investigate the Mystery."

Evil Hat Games

Most Moves have a range of conditional successes, with more benefits for a higher roll. Most successes aren't as simple as "the action happens." For example, successful information gathering Moves - whether that be research or detective work - are rewarded with an ongoing +1 for any relevant actions that follow, in addition to any information acquired.

The unique list of Moves for Monster of the Week fits the genre well, putting the game in a better spot than some of its other peers. That being said, Moves can come off as overly-vague and restrictive to some experienced RPG players. It's something I've struggled with coming from more traditional RPGs, as it requires a lot of participation and good faith from everyone at the table. The end results are thankfully worth the effort.

Moves work best when you remember that they aren't an exclusive list of what a character can do so. Rather, they're more so guiding players to the sort of story beats that best fit the tone and genre of the media the game emulates. In the extensive examples provided throughout the book, it's emphasized that players and keepers shouldn't be going around announcing Moves. Instead they should take inspiration from the list or even declare what a character does, then figure out what fits best.

Armed, dangerous and undead

Combat is neatly covered under the appropriately named "Kick Some Ass" Move. Since the Keeper doesn't roll dice, misses inflict Harm (the game's form of damage), 7 to 9 rolls hurt both combatants, with 10 and 11 rolls being successful, and 12 and up representing serious damage. Combat is light, easy to handle and unfolds rapidly. A good fit for a game modeled around mid-budget monster shows. Both players and Keepers are encouraged to use the environment for their advantage and more exciting fights.

In line with the focus on telling a story rather than just simply checking off numbers and ticking boxes, Keepers are instructed to describe any Harm inflicted with vivid terms and apply appropriate modifiers. This sees debilitating effects stacked on top of the regular damage, making every hit leave a lasting impression.

Evil Hat Games

Weapons and gear are nearly as abstracted but have enough rules to differentiate them and make for more exciting combat.

While Monsters can take and deal damage, it's never as simple as blasting them apart with bullets. Well, at least not normal bullets. After consulting the Archetypes and coming up with creepy powers, the Keeper gives the Monster at least one Weakness. 

Players can deal as much Harm as they want but until they find and exploit one of those vulnerabilities, the Monster will keep getting back up.

Magic is also available to every player character, though their competence depends on their Weird Rating. It's one of the few Moves Keepers can explicitly set a difficulty for, in the form of spell ingredients and rituals. A short list is provided for basic magic, ranging from the standard offensive spells and enchantments to trapping or summoning monsters.

Anything beyond that is Big Magic, requiring far more steps and complications. Magic can go horribly wrong, especially if you're attempting to resurrect a player character, a novel option to have in any game, especially one as dangerous as Monster of the Week. To compensate, resurrected PCs always come back under some kind of horrible, possibly supernatural malaise.

Players can also spend Luck to convert a roll to a 12 or reduce an instance of damage to 0. That can make all the difference when hunting monsters but running out of Luck invites horror and disaster, sometimes tailored to specific Playbook choices.

Crypt Keeper

Keepers have their own actions, which are even more genre-tailored with specific sets for Monsters and their squishier Minions. Locations have Moves too, representing how in any good horror media the environment itself is an adversary (sometimes literally).

These prevent the Keeper's role from feeling entirely reactive, giving them a means to manage the story without clashing with the table-driven ethos of PBtA. Another helpful tool is the countdown timer, which is tracked from Day to Midnight, with increasingly dire consequences appropriate to a given mystery's horror and the consequences of letting them run free. That isn't always a literal night but the mechanic keeps the narrative moving while capturing that sense of weekly, 20 to 40 minute episodes where the situation needs to be quickly resolved.

Evil Hat Games

There are dozen Playbooks - PBtA's version of classes - for players to choose from, each explicitly modeled after a beloved horror character or archetype (the game even nicely tells you what they're based on). Every Playbook has unique equipment and Moves, with some being new combat actions while others add new twists to gameplay.

Character creation is delightfully easy, with every available option listed as a checklist and every Playbook-specific mechanic explained on the sheet. Players even have built in relationships with other hunters, chosen from a list at the start of a campaign. These options are all broad enough for players to make them their own, but you can still tailor your choices to the group's needs. The Playbooks prove surprisingly flexible both in concept and ability, though the game stresses each group should only have one of each. 

Generally the more flashy and impressive an archetype is, the more drawbacks it comes with. The Spooky - supernaturally gifted children - all have a dark side, the Initiate's ancient order's have their own skeletons, and the Monstrous' unnatural abilities come with horrific curses. All of these are chosen from a provided list, like the other options. Some archetypes are more straightforward than others but there's good variety and enticing options.

Monster of the Week uses a mostly standard approach to character progression, with the bulk of Experience coming from completing the mystery in a satisfying way. Certain Playbook Moves also award Experience and players can get it for acting on a prophetic vision or following through with something their character was manipulated into doing by another. It's a clever way to use gameplay to incentivize making less than optimal choices. 

Evil Hat Games

Most of the Improvements are the expected raising of Ratings, adding new Moves and so on. More interesting is the ability to enhance how the character uses Basic actions or even gain a second character - to be used in troupe play or simultaneously. I haven't seen another game do that and though it requires some thought from the Keeper and Player, it's a novel addition.

Next Week On

Monster of the Week succeeds in giving tables the tools to recreate its preferred genre, while prioritizing usability, collaboration, and getting right into play. The book itself is well formatted, with a detailed index and functional black and white art that sets the tone without dominating the page. Some game masters will have trouble adjusting to PBtA. I certainly did. For me, it was because I was so used to navigating denser rulesets that gave me more direct authority. 

But monster-hunting is a team effort and crafting a satisfying story is easier when you distribute the load. 

Monster of the Week can be purchased here and through DriveThruRPG.