Hi there!
I’m keeper of my first motw campaign, and have no experience with rpgs what so ever. My current plan for the campaign is that it will be centrally located within a small county area (think Gravity Falls, or Buffy). As this will be my players first motw experience as well (though they all have some experiance with dnd) I want the first mystery to be a good tutorial lesson for them as well as a good way to see how their characters interact with one another, however, I’m worried I haven’t actually put in enough fighting to make it interesting, or havent put enough clues as to what is actually causing the monsters to appear. Do you guys have any advice?
I have a separate list of locations they can explore (this is on a separate file as I’m hoping to run multiple mysteries within the town)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LmKQ_Tmoa4MppDBxgGPufQp2lfKnrkeU/view?usp=drive_web
I think your working too hard; MotW is a narrative game that uses a great deal of improv. Don’t compare it to something like old school D&D.You don’t need a dungeon. My best advice is don’t plan too far ahead: react to what your players want and things that happen in play after the first mystery. The game has a very set three acts: situation, investigation, combat. I also say run something fairly easy the first mystery: save more complicated things for later.Michael’s advice in the rule book is really excellent. I’ve had great luck with this mystery starter for first time players as an example:
drive.google.com – Vampire Hunt.pdf
Seriously. Go look at any of Mark Tygart’s starters – they are all fantastic, and definitely give you a great idea of how little prep you need to run a great game. Even if you don’t run them “as written”, they are a great inspiration / jumping off point.
Just remember your Principles, let the Countdown progress naturally, change up the Moves you hit the players with (don’t always resort to harm) and most importantly? Have fun! MotW is a blast!