Have you ever watched a show that deals with one scenario an episode? Shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scooby Doo, and Criminal Minds all focus on one villain or scenario an episode, and then deal with something entirely new the next week, frequently never dealing with an enemy more than once. This plot device is commonly known as “Villain of the Week” and is what inspired the TTRPG known as Monster of the Week.
Monster of the Week is a standalone TTRPG that is meant for 3-5 people to play through stories of 2-4 hours length. With a mix of action, horror, and investigation, players will experiences new stories every session that contain new monsters, new abilities, and new mysteries. There are two roles, the Hunters and the Keeper. The Keeper is MOTW’s Game Master: their job is to make the new mysteries and monsters for play sessions, and to guide the Hunters through the stories. The Hunters are the monster hunters that will gather information and defeat the monsters causing issues. Together, the Hunters and the Keeper build a narrative filled with adventure and mystery.
The entire game is contained within a singular book. The only other material you need is 2 6-sided dice. This book has sections for the Hunters and for the Keeper so that each can clearly understand their objectives and setup. For the Hunters, they must create a character using the Hunter archetypes. They will come up with a backstory for their characters and fill out their archetype playbooks where they can choose special abilities, weapons, and other add-ons, and introduce themselves to the other Hunters. The Keeper will spend their setup time creating their story. Each story starts with threats, a hook that leads the Hunters to investigate the case, and a mystery countdown. Threats include the main monster, minions that aid the monster, signification locations, and anyone who is in some way involved in the case from witnesses to victims to cops and beyond. A mystery countdown is a sequence of events that will occur if the Hunters do not stop the monster in time. These elements are what the Keeper creates beforehand to begin a story with the Hunters.
There was a lot I appreciated about this game; it is easy to approach and extremely open, allowing a lot of room for creativity. The book is an extremely beneficial resource with example stories and detailed guides for all players which made it accessible. While I fear lack of structure in games at times, I think this game has a minimal-yet-effective amount of structure for the Keeper to create stories while still involving the Hunters. The Keeper feels disconnected from the rest of the world to me unfortunately. Although this person is the one playing NPCs, detailing outcomes and making decisions, I don’t feel like the role itself is really connected to the story. Overall, I did enjoy this game and think it’s awesome for TTRPG beginners from both a player and game master perspective!
Stay swag gamers <3 – Shayla
