Category: Monster of the Week Roadhouse: General Discussion

How do “Turns” actually work in Monster of the Week? Can a monster only attack PC’s as a reaction to their actions or do they get an action phase of their own, much like in Dungeon World. For instance in Dungeon World when monsters attack they can force a PC to make a Defy Danger roll. There does not seem to be something like this in the Monster of the Week. An Act Under Pressure roll might work in a similar way but I hesitate to gimp players with low cool.

The way I have been doing it is that each monster and minion has a phase in combat after all the PC’s have acted (Unless the monster/minions succeed in a surprise attack, where the Monster Phase would happen before the PC’s react). A minion or monster can either perform an attack action or use a more powerful Monster Move if available. Some monster moves I consider “Reactive” which occur on each character’s phase (Like a monster having some kind of Regeneration ability or use something that can be done quickly and reflexively). The more powerful moves require monsters to perform their monster moves on their turn. Otherwise if the Monster/Minion chose an attack action, they declare their method of attack and the affected players make either a Cool, Tough or Smart roll to resist. They need to describe how they are using that stat. Cool would involve dodging or evading. Tough would involve blocking or taking it like a boss (I allow Weird to be supplemented if the character has the Superhuman strength or something similar). Smart would be using some intelligent move to outwit the monster (such as using the surrounding area as cover). On a 10+ they take no harm, on a 7-9 they take the monster’s harm -1 or a lesser effect. on a 6+ they take the full harm or an appropriate Hard Move of the monster’s type.

So how do you handle the actions monsters take during combat?

I got a question considering “Monster Moves”. Can you use Monster Moves to apply penalties to character rolls or require additional rolls before they can perform a specific action.

For instance, I have an antagonist that has a monster move that allows them at will to teleport short distances by stepping through shadows. While there is a way the hunters can nullify this ability (by using a powerful light source to block out any deep shadows in the area), if they don’t use this the monster can teleport around making it difficult to strike in combat and allowing it to strike the Hunters at will.

One option I would consider is requiring an “Act Under Pressure” roll to even attack the monster. On a full success they can use a “Kick some ass” move as normal. On a partial the monster is evasive imposing a -1 penalty on any move used against the monster that phase. On a failure the hunter automatically misses and takes harm from the monster as they miss their mark and then get stabbed from the darkness.

What would be your suggestions for this kind of power?