r/monsteroftheweek

When I run a longform MOTW story with an arc, I usually like to start with the Hunters meeting each other for the first time. They're not an established team yet - circumstances push them together, and they become a team during the course of the first Mystery.

Then, after either the first or second Mystery, we talk about what the Team Playbook is, if one is even applicable. Sometimes there are Team Playbooks that work, sometimes there aren't - in the latter instance, we can usually Frankenstein a Team Playbook out of the existing ones.

I'm curious as to how other Keepers handle these sort of situations. What's your preference? Do you start with a ready-made Team and a Playbook ready to go? Do you pre-choose a Team Playbook and bend the narrative toward it? Do you avoid Team Playbooks entirely? I'd love to know how you all go about handling this.

I started a podcast off of a game my friends and I recorded over a few years and not only did we not know Monster of the Week all that well as a system, we also used rotating Keepers so our managing styles weren't consistent (which I actually found intriguing for the story). I think the stories we told surrounding the main town in our world are really fun and intriguing, but with our inexperience with Monster of the Week, we don't utilize a lot of its functions or know when to roll sometimes as a result. Would that make you as a MotW player/keeper mad or distracted? I worry that even mentioning that we use MotW (which I think at this point I only do in the show description and tags) would put off people who know the game will since we're kinda shit at it.

I'm trying to come up with some ideas for Weaknesses that aren't too complicated but are more unique than the usual light, iron, silver, running water, etc.

Please give any feedback!

Thinking about offering the options of the team playbooks in my next game but can't figure out where the rules are for how team leveling works. What book originally contained the team playbooks and has the expanded rules for them?

Edit - After some more reading of the playbooks themselves, I did see the style section and improvements section which outlines it for each team. Just wondering if there is anything else I should know about these playbooks now. Cheers!

So I had an idea for a threat, not directly a monster but more of a "cursed item" type thing.

The item in question is a book of urban legends, but reading it aloud causes the stories to manifest in the real world. We had a short sesh where the group encountered it when someone is killed in the manner of the High Beams story (the one where the killer was in the back of the car all along), and i ended the session on a hint at the hook handed man.

My issue is a simple one... I'm not sure how to establish the book is the source of the apparitions, especially in a way where the solution isn't just “take the book off whoever has it and dont read it”

My main idea was like, the more people caught in the stories, the stronger the magic gets. But also then once it’s grown more, people’s fear of whatever danger is hiding in the faire, is what starts manifesting stuff.

I had a plan for the actual monster(s), which is a 'Hat Man'. Its based on sleep paralysis demons / people overthinking shadows they see when high / half awake. They aren't inherently malicious but the stories steer them so when people tell scary/dangerous stories, it causes them to do harm. I think the main ways to fend them off are either a lack of belief (if you don't buy into the story it can't play out), or tricking them into a story where they're the one who dies/loses.

I had meant to do more prep but the heatwave wiped me out so im trying to wrangle my plans

I'm starting a new campaign in Monster of the Week soon and for this one I want to lean into the horror aspects of this game. Most of the time when I've played it's been pretty light in tone, and for this one I want to switch that up. What sorts of things do you like to do to lean into horror and make things a little spooky? What type of situations or language do you use? Any specific examples/stories are also appreciated. Thanks!

Hello! So I've run the game for a while, but I'm always of two kinds about how to handle 7-9s for Act Under Pressure. The book says to give them one of the three options - worse outcome, hard choice, or price to pay - and also to follow the Keeper Agenda and principles to determine the outcome. But the example the book gives seems to suggest the Keeper is outlining all the possible outcomes and letting the Hunter decide which one they want.

There are certainly pros and cons to both methods, and various podcasts I've listened to have taken both approaches. The Crit Show, at least in the first dozen-or-so episodes, has the Keeper giving choice to the Hunter. In TAZ: Amnesty, Griffin seems to switch between picking the outcome himself letting the Hunter choose (though when he does this he doesn't provide the specific outcome until they choose).

My gut favors Griffin's approach, going with what works best for the story/scene in the moment, so that's what I've been doing. But I'd love to hear how other Keepers' approach this roll.