Monster of the Week Monster of The Week By Michael Sands Illustrated by Daniel Gorringe Edited by Steve Hickey First edition, June 2012. ISBN (print edition): 978-0-473-20466-2 ISBN (PDF edition): 978-0-473-20467-9 For Amanda and Zelda with love, for their support and tolerance over the very long time this game was in development. Acknowledgements Thanks go to many people who helped me with this game. Firstly, to Vincent Baker for Apocalypse World, and for not minding that I took his rules and changed them all around to fit my vision. Also, to the many playtesters who indulged me by joining in and hunting monsters over four or five years of development (especially my regular Monday night crew: Scott Kelly, Bruce Norris, Andrew McLeod, Jason Pollock, and Stefan Tyler). Steve Hickey, who edited the game, was one of my first enthusiastic fans, the first Keeper (aside from me), and has provided great feedback throughout the process. Thanks to my other early fans: Jenni Dowsett, Sophie Melchior, Hamish Cameron, and Stefan Tyler. Daniel Gorringe for the art: he was on the same page as me instantly in terms of style, and his work is fantastic. Thanks to Amanda Reilly, Todd Furler, Patrice Hede, Stephanie Pegg, and Peter Aronson for finding typos above and beyond the call of duty. Thanks also to everyone who contributed to the game's fundraising campaign: the game would have been much rougher without you. And, finally, to my wife and daughter. As the dedication says, they put up with a lot while I was writing, and were supportive all along. Play-testers Roll of Honour Final edition: Andrew McLeod, Scott “It'll be fine” Kelly, Jason “Dark past” Pollock, and Stefan “Unstoppable” Tyler, Steve Hickey, Sophie Melchior, Hamish Cameron, Jenni Dowsett, Svend Andersen, Celeste Mackintosh, Wayne Ulyate, Dale Elvy, Karen Wilson, Stephanie Pegg, Ellen Couch, Andy Millar, and Nick Cole. Many more people playtested earlier versions. Thanks to you all. Funders Roll Of Honour Thanks to all of you who contributed to the preorder campaign: Peter Aronson, Lester Ward, Alasdair Sinclair, Sophie Melchior, Malcolm Harbrow, Colin Jessup, Dev Purkayastha, Marco Andreeto, Hamish Cameron, Shane Mclean, Jamas Enright, Jeremy Tidwell, Rohan Smith, Ian Raymond, Morgan Davie, Stephanie Pegg, Andrew Millar, Robert Oglodzinski, Herman Duyker, Todd Furler, Luke Walker, John Harper, Jonathan Davis, Avram Lewis, Fealoro, Martin Gray, Eirik Kildal Stangnes, Emma-Jean, Jason Pollock, Antoine Fournier, Sevag Bakalian, Steve Dempsey, Rich Rogers, Marcus Constable, Yragaël Malbos, Nathan Roberts, Joseph Le May, Linda Larsson, Vincent Baker, Jonathan Bristow, Stuart Chaplin, Robert T Roy, Marc Majcher, Kevin Lindgren, Nick Reynolds, Dale Elvy, John Ryan, Mike Olson, Brian Allred, Ken Finlayson, Guns_n_Droids, Alan Jackson, Scott White, Matthew Edwards, Guillaume Carré, Svend Andersen, Stefan Tyler, Paul Wilson, Florian Hoheneder, Peter Borah, Bryan Chavez, Dag Sverre Syrdal, David Bowers, Paul Edson, Jason L Blair, Marcus Bone, Jeremy Friesen, Phil Garrad, Adam Waggenspack, Tim Ireland, Sevag Bakalian, Nathan Riddell, Richard Rogers, Derek Grimm, Julianna Backer, Ferrer Jean-Olivier, James Iles, Katrina Allis, Nicolas Brian, Sean Dunstan, Chris Norwood, Mark Harris, Gary Anastasio, Felan Parker, Steve Hickey, Noah Doyle, Karen Wilson, Sven Folkesson, Gino Moretto, Frank Pitt, Chris Moriarty, Jenni Dowsett, Neal Dalton, Alden Strock, Reid San Filippo, Zoe Tsang, Christopher Weeks, W. Mark Woodhouse, Ben Wootten, James Gabrielsen, Aurynn Shaw, Alex Abate Biral, Jason Pitre, Justin Koopmans, René John Kerkdyk, Diogo Curado, Grégoire Pinson, Brett Easterbrook, Wayne West, Nicolas Ronvel, Alex Fradera, Noam Rosen, Mark Shocklee, Scott Kelly, Will A Wright, John Machin, Peter Edwards, Guy Milner, Joe Beason, Joe Mcdaldno, Gerry Saracco, Jim Sweeney, Carl Rigney, Jonathan Walton, Keith Higdon, Scott Bennett, Joshua Cupp, Parke Hultman, Bryan Rennekamp, Andrew Rosenheim. Table of Contents There Are Monsters Out There.........1 Healing................................................ 66 What You've Signed Up For...................1 Resurrection....................................... 67 What You'll Need..................................... 2 The Luck Counter...................................68 What You Should Read...........................2 When You Run Out Of Luck...............68 Gear.......................................................... 69 Feedback....................................................3 Getting New Gear...............................69 The Hunters.........................................4 Weapons.............................................. 69 The First Session...................................... 4 Armour................................................ 71 Team Concepts......................................... 5 Other Gear...........................................71 Team Customisation............................6 Gear Tags.............................................72 Example Team Concepts......................6 Custom Gear Moves............................72 Before You Create Your Hunter............8 Leveling Up............................................. 73 Moves.................................................... 8 Improvements.................................... 73 The Ratings......................................... 10 Advanced Improvements..................75 The Chosen..............................................11 Advanced Moves................................76 The Expert...............................................16 Summary: Hunter's Session.................79 The Flake................................................. 21 The First Time Only...........................79 The Initiate............................................. 25 Every Game......................................... 79 The Monstrous........................................30 The Keeper.........................................80 The Mundane..........................................35 What You Do...........................................80 The Professional.....................................39 How It Will Play Out...........................80 The Spooky..............................................44 Before Your First Game.........................81 Think About Style..............................81 The Wronged..........................................49 Get Into The Keeper Mindset............82 Get Ready For Action.............................54 The Keeper Agenda............................ 82 Introductions......................................54 The Keeper Principles........................82 History.................................................54 Creating Your First Mystery................83 How To Play............................................55 An Example Mystery: Mongolian Hunter Agenda................................... 55 Death Worm Attack............................83 The Game Is A Conversation.............55 Preparing Your First Mystery...........86 Moves.................................................. 56 Mystery Countdowns......................... 94 The Basic Moves................................. 59 Summary: First Mystery Creation....97 Big Magic.................................................64 The First Session.................................... 98 Fights....................................................... 64 Hunter Creation.................................98 Unarmed Attacks And Improvised Running The First Mystery................100 Weapons.............................................. 65 The Game Is A Conversation...........100 Harm........................................................ 65 Keeper Agenda.................................101 Monsters and Harm...........................66 The Keeper Principles......................101 Mystery Letters................................171 Always Say........................................ 104 Running Subsequent Mysteries.........174 Moves................................................ 105 At the Beginning of Each Session...174 The Basic Keeper Moves..................106 Playing the Mystery......................... 174 Threat Moves....................................110 Summary: Keeper's Session............176 The Basic Hunter Moves..................114 As The Game Goes On..........................177 Big Magic...........................................125 At the End Of Each Mystery............177 Playbook Moves................................126 Checking On Your Arcs....................177 Actions Not Covered By A Move.....126 Endgame................................................178 On With The Mystery!.........................127 Leveling Up And Improvements.....178 Start-Of-Mystery Moves..................127 Running Out Of Luck........................178 The Teaser........................................127 Dealing With Arcs.............................179 Beginning the Investigation............128 Other Things To Consider...............179 Use The Countdown......................... 129 How To End A Game.........................179 I'm Not Prepared For This...............130 Customising Your Game.................180 Closing In On The Monster..............130 Custom Moves.......................................180 It Always Comes To A Fight.............130 Triggering The Custom Move.........180 Harm..................................................135 Move Types....................................... 180 Healing.............................................. 138 Example Custom Moves...................181