Originally shared by Kane Cathain
#RPGaDay2015
#3 Favorite New Game of the last 12 months
Monster of the Week
My favorite new game is also an introduction into a new system for me. Monster of the Week’s theme drew me in far enough to actually get me to set up and run a game after I had been looking at Apocalypse World and Dungeon World for some time. Years ago I picked up Dungeon World at Gen Con after a nice combination of hearing lots of good things, enticing aesthetics, and salesmanship from Adam Koebel. DW had never made it to my table because I had a hard time getting my head around the system and a gluttonous collection of fantasy based RPGs was competing for my attention. That has since been remedied and I’ve played Dungeon World a number of times as well as picked up about a dozen powered by the Apocalypse games and DW hacks.
As the name implies, MotW replicates spooky/monster/mystery TV shows and other media. I’ve pitched it with easy and accurate references to X-files, Supernatural, Buffy, Hellblazer, etc. I really enjoy how the setting works with the bonds between characters along with archetypes and tropes that players will easily get into right at the start. The choice of playbooks can alter the mood of how the “fiction” will play out throughout the session. I’ve run a mystery (“mystery” meaning adventure or module) multiple times and the first time it played out like a Delta Green story and the other it was more akin to something out of Hellboy. The moves and playbooks add to the mechanics in a way that doesn’t make if feel like a simple re-skin of a fantasy setting.
The episodic nature of MotW doesn’t seem to easily lend itself to an intricate campaign. But that is actually a huge plus for me. I run a weekly game that is a long term campaign – I also like to run one-shots for people outside of that without having to invest in returning players and consistent schedules. I’ve run MotW about eight times now with never having the same mix of players but some cross over with players/characters and it worked seamlessly. [As an aside: Are there any good games out there built from the ground up to be exclusively non-campaign focused?]
I’ve seen the author, Michael Sands, popping up on G+ to answer questions and engage with players around the game he’s created. This is one of my favorite things about gaming, when people care about sharing what they’ve created and participate in the ways it grows once its out there in the world. Also, you can get a free PDF when you buy the physical book and I like supporting the bricks and mortars as well as the convenience of transporting all my books on my ipad.