Your one stop shop for playbooks, mysteries, and other tips and tricks for Monster of the Week.
Disclaimer: This blog is unaffiliated with Generic Games, Evil Hat, Michael Sands, or any other official Monster of the Week source.
Do you take submissions on playbooks? My partner and I have a couple homebrew ones we'd be happy to add to the masterlist!
First off, I wanna say-- I'm the only person running this blog and my life has gotten super busy since starting it. I made this in the height of quarantine and I don't have the same time and energy to devote to finding playbooks and mysteries. So submissions, whether it's yours or not, are ALWAYS encouraged.
You can use submit it to me using Tumblr or message it to me on Discord at thebetteradversary#9667. If that doesn't work, contact me about emailing your submission.
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A Halloween party hosted by Dorothy Roberts-Jackson, social elite of Harper’s Mill Illinois, takes an unexpected turn when her long-deceased elder brother Timmy returns as a poltergeist. Unbeknownst to Dorothy, Timmy’s spirit was electro-mechanically bound to one of his favorite albums at the time of his death in 1962. The album has lied untouched in the basement of the Roberts’ family manor.
During her Halloween gala this year, Dorothy plays the album for the first time since his tragic death. Timmy’s spirit emerges and begins to seek an audience. He isn’t exactly malicious (at first, at least), but he exhibits the stereotypical self-absorption of adolescence. He grows in both power and neurosis throughout the mystery.
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Hey there! I’m a first time keeper and very new to ttrpgs in general and I gotta say, I really appreciate you running this blog! It’s honestly put my mind at ease about upcoming sessions now that I’ve got these resources on my side. Keep up the good work!
So late to this, but thank you so much! I’m glad that people are actually using this old thing.
Hi, I'm Nicolas "Gulix" Ronvel, available at @gulix on twitter. I found out about the Mike Keck's Mysteries sheet that Big Bear is based on one of my mysteries, Grumpy Bear. Could it be possible to just mention that (the link to my original mystery) as required by the CC-By-SA license? Thanks.
That is definitely possible! You should see the change by tonight.
Also, as a heads up to any creators- I just fixed the FAQ/For Creators button, you should be able to contact me directly the next time an issue arises.
Monsters spawning from humans! A mutagen has been spread through a small town in FL through a local soda factory. It causes those infected to grow a sentient arm of any animal whose products they’ve eaten after drinking the soda. Example: Scott grew a squid tentacle after eating calamari.
Thank you for making this blog. I’m a long time keeper and sifting through the Reddit is kinda hard sometimes. I’m currently keeping a game on discord that’s play by post, so it’s a great way to exercise my writing muscles
It’s no problem, that’s exactly what this blog is made for. I’m glad you could find some use out of it!
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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I thought up a fun little mystery for a campy Halloween game with my friends, an I thought I'd share it here. Its based off of the song "Actual Cannibal Shia Lebeouf" by Rob Cantor, and its just a fun little One shot for the holiday. This is also loosely adapted from "The Circles" mystery in Tome of Mysteries. Let me know what you think!
Bullet Journal Your Monster of the Week Sessions: Groups and Factions
Note from Kai: Thanks for being patient with this one! I’ve been swamped with midterms. While my Monster of the Week game still continues, it’s hard to keep up with this blog and my usual workload. I’m still coming up with fun new pages to add in your MOTW bullet journal, so stay tuned!
Okay, maybe talking about factions in MOTW seems a little niche, but think about it. There are several common tropes that involve groups: the monster hunting organization, the cult, the werewolf pack… I keep them all in order in my bullet journal. If you value a living, breathing world beyond the hunters or giving hunters repercussions, I’d keep track of any other big groups that could stand in the way of the hunters. Here’s some spreads I use to keep things in order.
The simplest, easiest thing to do is have a page that at least talks about what the organization is. You can see this on the picture below. I have a short description of who they are and what they do as well as some known affiliates. I usually leave some empty spaces in case some new characters related to the organization come in. It’s perfect if you realize you wanted someone secretly working with the organization all along, good or bad. I also have notes just to keep any plot developments in order- this is where I think your takeaways will be most useful. Even if you repeat information, it’s good to have information sorted by subject and in chronological order. In a game about being off-the-cuff, it’s good to have a reference to keep things consistent.
You can also see that I have a notes page so I can compile new developments. You can feasibly put anything else, but I think it’s super important to have that miscellaneous section just in case you make up something new, whether it’s a fun fact or legitimate story beats.
Here’s another thing I do to keep things in order: write a legitimate meeting log for a certain group. In this journal, I’m really only doing this for the Oracles, as they act as sort of an antagonist for the hunters. Even if a mystery doesn’t surround them, it’s a good way to act on the mixed successes of Help Out and Act Under Pressure, just in case there’s no mystery relevant ways to put the hunters in danger. This also works in situations where the hunters need to see the bigger picture and past the mystery, like the Oops! for the Mundane or Connect the Dots for the Flake. You can see how I do it below.
What also helps me is writing what each organization knows. You as the keeper know everything, and I personally find it a challenge to keep in order what each character, player or non-player, knows.
There are a lot of different ways to put the different factions and groups your hunters interact with in order, not just these. It may seem simple, but I think adding more recurring features to the world just makes things more real and adds a fun callback for the hunters.
My take on Too Many Vampires, but a lot more confusing. Five actresses vie for a spot in a movie, with some taking it to extreme ends. The monster here is technically just a normal person, with the emphasis being on listening to drama in order to pick out the pieces.
Content warning for cannibalism! And also feces, if that makes you grossed out.
Inspirations
This is a loose take on Too Many Vampires, where there’s several different people with different agendas- some good, some bad. And yes, I made countdowns for all of the actresses. The movie they’re making isn’t super important. For my sessions, it was a clue to the larger story at hand. Also, the names I chose for the women auditioning are super confusing. Feel free to change them.
Hook
We are at a fancy restaurant in the city. Ever since we all learned about the existence of monsters, we begin to notice more and more signs that not everyone in the city is human as we pan through the eatery: two women, on a date, drinking a red liquid- too red for wine. A man dropping his white glove, a rotting hand underneath it. But we rest on a man and a woman, seemingly celebrating, a stack of papers between them.
The man is dweeby, wearing a patterned bowtie, nerdy glasses, and a newsboy cap. When he smiles, we can see his canines are larger, and he’s a little hairier than most people. The woman is a red-haired beauty, relying on her natural looks rather than makeup. She finishes signing the papers and the couples clinks their champagne glasses together.
“Congratulations again on the part, Cleo,” the man says. “I look forward to working with you.”
Both take a sip from their glasses. However, the woman starts coughing. We cut to a shot of the table- it’s blood.
The man panics, getting up from his spot to check on her. The whole restaurant panics as everyone notices the scene. The man calls for a doctor. Someone claiming to be a doctor comes and checks Cleo’s pulse, but it’s too late.Â
Cut to a point of view shot of Cleo, watching as the doctor announces Cleo is gone. Her vision fades as we heartbeat slow and then stop.
Main Countdown
Day: Joe Gillis reauditions the role of Blaire in the film Ben Atkinson wrote. Clary, Clarice, Clarissa, Clarabelle, and Clarity are all up for roles.
Shadows: Clary barely dodges a falling light, but breaks her leg.
Dusk: At a dinner meeting, Clarissa fails to show up- alive. She is cooked in the dinner.
Sunset: Clarice is cut up and accidentally used as a prop during the movie.
Night: Clary begs for the role as she believes she can still do it, but Joe doesn’t want her to exert her broken leg.
Midnight: The rest of the auditionees get into a fight, and Clary wins. But everyone else is dead.
The Monster
Clary, Queen
Motivation: Possess the role she’s auditioning for.
Description:Â Beautiful long red hair that reaches her mid-back. She has a ton of freckles dotted across her face, and she is wearing black converse and a leather jacket.
Bystanders
Joe Gillis, Witness
Motivation: To provide information about the movie and auditioning process
Description:Â The director is a man wearing a newsboy hat and a band t-shirt. He has a scruffy beard and nerdy glasses.
Notes: Joe is meant to be a werewolf. It’s not important to the mystery, but it was important to the main story. If you’ve been keeping up with these mysteries, he’s looking for Ben Atkinson, the monster from the first mystery.
Clarity, Official
Motivation:Â Look suspicious by sabotaging the other women auditioningÂ
Description: Curled red hair and a beauty mark near her nose. She is wearing a Nirvana shirt and skinny jeans.
Modified Countdown:
Day: Set up the falling light trap for Clary.
Shadows: Put laxatives in Clarabelle’s drink.
Dusk: Give Clarissa the wrong audition sides.
Clarissa, Victim
Motivation: Put herself in danger by running a group talk that shit-talks Clarity
Description: Bright green eyes and hair clearly dyed red. She is dressed like Uma Thurman in the poster of Pulp Fiction.
Modified Countdown:
Day: Open and run groupchat to shit talk Clarity.
Clarabelle, Gossip
Motivation: Talk shit about the other auditioners
Description: Hair dip-dyed red and is wearing circular glasses. She’s wearing a beret and houndstooth print pants, as well as carrying a polaroid camera.
Modified Countdown:
Day-Shadows: Partake in the shit-talking groupchat.
Dusk: Start shitting.
Sunset: Shit pants in front of Joe at audition.
Night: Shit ON Clarity.
Clarice, Victim
Motivation: Put herself in danger by threatening to reveal the shit-talking group chat
Description:Â Dressed a very witchy, nu-goth outfit. She has dark sunglasses and her red hair is tied in a messy bun.
Modified Countdown:
Shadows: Gather the evidence about the groupchat.
Dusk: Arrange a meeting with Joe to talk about the groupchat.
Sunset: Die.
Locations
Lunar Movie Studio, Crossroads
Motivation: Bring the hunters, the monster, and the bystanders together
Description: The movie studio is crowded, busy place. It’s dark, the lights on the set of an office as you see two actors perform a scene in front of the cameras. Behind the cameras, there are people carrying costumes, scripts, makeup brushes. They all seem to be at a standstill as they watch the scene playing out in front of them, too.
Notes: The scene playing in front of them is supposed to be a clue towards the main plot. You can put whatever you want. Also, this movie studio is run by werewolves. That’s not important, but it’s fun.
Bullet Journal Your Monster of the Week Sessions: Character Profiles
Now that you’re getting into the groove of your sessions, you might be thinking about the long term plans for each of the characters. That means it’s time to start making character profiles!
I’d say do this early, but not until at least your session zero is done. I did mine after session one, half out of laziness, half because you don’t know who the hunters are until you actually start playing! I’ll also show you how I do other NPCs/variations on the original character page. And feel free to mix it up, this is just how I’ve realized is the best way to do things.
You’ll need:
Your bullet journal
Your favorite pen
Character Art (optional)
For the hunters, I’ll reserve a page for them and write their name at the top. I’m an artist, so I’ll draw a picture of the hunter in question and tape it to the page. Then, I’ll write down a brief description of who they are. In my campaign, the hunters are “chosen ones” (in a very loose sense lol basically imagine the spirit of your childhood best friend telling you to do something), so I’ve also written their roles on their page as well. Afterwards, I’ll add whatever plans I have for them on the sheet, with a one sentence description of what it is. Here are two examples of this.
You might have noticed that I don’t put what their playbooks are, nor the ratings, moves, or anything else mechanical. Unlike games like Pathfinder and DnD, class changes can happen at the drop of a hat. In fact, Vic was a Crooked session zero, and turned into the Monstrous by session three! You can write down the mechanical stuff about your hunters, but I’ve never had a use for it.
I also do this for NPCs as well, but not to the extent I do for the hunters. I don’t do character art, but you certainly can. I’ve put some campaign-specific information in my NPC descriptions, but it does include a physical description of the character as well as why they’re important. As they’re magical, I’ve given them custom moves as well. Keep in mind that this is something you should be able to look back at. In essence, your bullet journal is your world handbook.
Here’s how I did the NPC profiles:
Theoretically you can do this for every character, but I’d say stick to your hunters and the recurring characters. Personally, I did this to reduce the amount of time I spent looking back through my notes.
Soon, I’ll cover other off-screen badness you could be planning in the meantime!
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Bullet Journal Your Monster of the Week Sessions: Session One and the Sessions After
So you’ve started your Monster of the Week bullet journal, and you’ve filled out your session zero. Now what? Something you’ll need to know is what exactly you’re going to use the journal for during actual play. The answer is simple- for whatever you want!
Things You’ll Need
Your bullet journal
Your favorite pen
Sticky Tabs (optional)
You’ll want to start each session by writing either the number of the session or the name of the mystery. Then, put a sticky tab down. Keeping note of when each session occurs in your book makes things easier as you can tell when certain plot points began to develop, and generally makes tracking chronology easier. You don’t need a sticky tab, but I’m going to put one down anyway.
From here, you can just take notes as usual about the session. This could mean major character changes that happen during the session. You can also the health of NPCs as it becomes relevant. I also like putting the bits and bobs the players come up with about their characters in order to use them later. As this game is mostly improv, I also track down the off-the-cuff details I make about the world so I stay consistent.
Then, of course, you go back and do your takeaways from the session. This is when you record what was most important about what happened and how it will affect future mysteries. For instance, if you’ve come up with a name for a place or person you’ll probably use later, write it down. If a hunter’s playbook starts coming back to bite them, like the Chosen’s or the Spooky’s, write it down too. This information will be important for your behind-the-scenes notes.
After you finish doing your takeaways, you are done for the current session. It should look a little something like this:
Later, I’ll cover recording the information that goes on behind the scenes, such as character profiles, arc development, and other pages you’ll want to make.