Author: josh savoie

I am excited to start a new campaign, trying out Monster Of The Week again (Actually, it was the first PbtA game I ever played, it has a special place in my heart, Shoutout to Sebastian Baker, and Elliot, but I don’t want to summon him, as he’s a player). But I kinda want to crowdsource some ideas. The campaign is in an unnamed SouCal college town, in the 80’s. we have decided to go for a kinda “Stranger Things” vibe, so heavy King and Spielberg references are expected.

the cast is

The Mundane- A sporty girl going to college here, good friends with the Initiate, hence getting roped into all this.

The Expert- A complete nerd, and the mundane’s classmate, they are the expert because they have just watched that many monster movies, and read that many comic books. also, the Professional’s kid

The Professional- A beat cop assigned to Gang detail, with the unfortunate luck of running into most of the monster-cases, the disappointed father of the Expert.

and The Initiate- A kid who joined the peace-corps right out of high school, and wound up in the monster-hunting organization, which the peace-corps is a front of. as of session zero, he is the only member aware of the existence of monsters.

What kind of monsters should I have these guys hunting down.

A little favorite moment from a recent game of mine

A player is playing the news (didn’t recognize my name either). She reaches the “Who is your biggest fan?” question

Her: I think I want my biggest fan to be a brainer. that seems like it could be useful.

Me: You ever read Misery?

All of the players: nope, what is that (or variations thereupon)

Me: Nevermind, it’s not especially important

A friend and I are running a joint Fallen empires game (eight people in the group, too many for a regular game, so we split off into two group). Sebastian Baker is running a group on the mainland, and I am running a group sharing an island (the world continent was fractured at the end of the golden age of empires, leaving a shattered coastline, and hundreds of islands in a massive archipelago)

we basically did this so that we could occasionally switch up the groups, because they are close enough to reasonably intereact.

That is all just bragging, though, my point here is, How would you do a Dragon In Fallen Empires?

what does everyone think about this idea

rather than full playbooks, you have “archetypes”. these archetypes come with stat adjustments( but give you a floating +1, ala monsterhearts) and a single move they get (see appendix A for details). and then you pick a few moves from a “Move Bank”.

Three benefits i see from this. First, you could have a standardized character sheet (no more printing out a dozen playbooks for 3 players). Second it leaves a lot of customizability, even at creation. and third it enforces the unofficial rule to not take a classes “thing” (take at will brain atonement or seeing souls, don’t take deep brain scan or hypnotic if theres a skinner or brainer in the game)

Appendix A:

Examples of Archetypes

The Wanton (+1 determined, -1 sane)

Need: When you are desperate, cornered, or otherwise in immediate danger, roll +Determined, on a 10+, you get to what you need (allies, a weapon, a place of temporary safety). On a 7-9, you can choose to or not, but if you do, someone else will be exposed to danger or consequences. On a miss, you and someone else are exposed to danger or consequences

The Traitor (+1 Sane, -1 Determined)

Farewell kiss: at any time, you may elect to shed a negative condition or wound, and give it to a willing, or unknowing ally through physical contact

The Liar (+1 scared, +1 Sane, -1 determined, -1 pure)

Now you see me: When you shift your position quickly to avoid harm, roll +Scared. On a 10+, you are out of the way, and have the enemy at a disadvantage. On a 7-9, you get out of the way, just barely. Take 1 forward. On a 6 miss, you’re flat on your ass and vulnerable to your attacker.

Highlighting Hx, does anyone else do it?

To me, it makes sense, highlighting stats is saying “I want to see you do these things”. so highlighting hard is saying “I want to see you be violent” and highlighting sharp is saying “I want to see you be observant and calculating”, so it makes sense to be able to highlight Hx, because thats saying “I want to see you be a team player/ help others”

And, personally, i prefer highlighting overall Hx, as opposed to their Hx with one person, just because the latter feels kinds restrictive.

is this a good thing, weird, legit?