Wanted- Monster Hunters and Enthusiasts

Calling all horror fans!

Are you fascinated by ghosts? Do you symp for spirits? Are you just dyyyyying to get in on the action? Well boy do I have good news for you! I (a twenty five year old with a hand-held camera) am assembling an elite team of ghost hunters. Armed with this book of ghosts I found in the local library, I plan on... not exactly tresspassing... but inviting myself in to some abandoned buildings around town and searching for the supernatural. Join the hunt. Let's see what lurks where the lights don't shine!

About payment.... I don't have any money for you. But don't go away! I'll be recording our expeditions and posting them online- maybe we can get famous? I also got a strange letter in the mail saying a mysterious Benefactor may be interested in sponsoring my channel if our initial video impresses. See, we're on the up and up! I'm taking applications now, and our first Hunt will be soon, so make sure to get in touch if you are interested!



About the game: I'm interested in playing in a world where ghosts and monsters are more of a conspiracy than a reality- until the party encounters their first real "event." As such, characters aren't "monster hunting badasses" like the rulebook says, but should be willing to explore ideas of bravery and fear with an approach of common sense. PCs will not be experts, but may possess skills that might make them more effective in this pursuit. Magic will not be available at the begining, but may be added more over time. I also don't like gritty combat, so I don't plan on tracking harm for the monsters (although we will for the players).

If you are interested, please pitch a character, describing why your character is involved in/ wants to be involved in ghost hunting, and what skill makes them unique and valuable.

I am interested. i really like Monster of the Week. But I am curious about characters. Most of the MotW playbooks seem to violate most of your "About the game" paragraph. I like the game concept, but how will we mechanically build characters for it?

Ok, looking at the playbooks, there's more room than I thought for this. Let me scratch my head and come up with something good.

Edited to add:
Here are two concepts:
1 - The unknowing Spooky: My grandma says I have "the sight", but she's kinda senile. Sure, I've had some lucky breaks and my hunches are pretty good, but that's just intuition and luck. So why am I here? Because my grandma is crazy rich, and she wants to see me "explore my talent." Mom is afraid that if I don't humor her, grandma will cut us out of her will. So... here I am. Do I believe in ghosts? I don't know. Maybe? A lot of people do, right?

2 - The unbelieving Expert: I always loved folklore and ghost stories growing up. Ive read so many of them. I don't know if I ever really believed them though. Maybe when i was really young. But the stories are still a lot of fun. I think that's what made me want to become an author. My agent thinks I need to experience more "real life" to really push my writing to the next level. This seems like the closest thing to "real life experience" I can get as a writer of supernatural horror. I don't really expect to see anything, but there should be some good stories along the way.

Awww, I am down for gritty monster slayering...

Always wanted to play in a MotW game! I only ever get to run it. This sounds fun to me. It sounds like playbooks that are more supernatural will be not allowed. I'm fine with that.

I'm interested as well, have always wanted to try MotW, and the more grounded nature seems neat.

Regarding character, I'll have to see which playbooks fall into the less supernatural ideas you're going for.

Timplausible- those both seem like great characters! Either of those would be perfect (I'm sending an invite)! Also, I agree, I know I'm bending the game a bit to do what I want, and maybe not every character sheet would work, but I think the system is flexible enough to handle it and it can still turn out good.

Sorry dude, wrong game :)

How about this? Still coming up with it, but I would play the wronged. I was in construction and was called to examine a house. My wife wanted to see what my work was like so she came along. Long story short, my wife died falling through the floor boards. Everyone said the house was just old, but I swore a transparent person killed her right in front of me. No one believes me, and now I am obsessed with knowing if I am crazy or not and finding that person (probably a ghost)

Yes, I'd love to play MotW! Some ideas for a character:

Thinking of...
1. A pararomantic (if ToS is in). She is still dating the ghost of her lover who got killed by a monster. She knows monsters are real. And that some of them are evil, but being a ghost doesn't have to mean you are evil. She seeks answers for her lover's death and she wants to make sure no innocent monsters come to harm.

2. The Chosen. I feel that the design of the world you seek really works well for a the origin of a chosen. She doen't believe in monsters. They are fairytales. And all of a sudden she meets this random, heavily wounded old guy. He hands her his sword and tells her it is her job to slay the monsters and save the world. Then he dies. What? How? Huh? One day she might be a gritty monster slayer, but now she is still a very confused young woman with a sword and no clue what to do with it.

3. The Mundane. She doen't believe in monsters. They are fairytales. But unlike the Chosen above, she never met the wounded man. Her life is that of a normal person. But one of her friends signed up to hjnt ghosts. And yeah, that's just lame. So she tags along to make fun of it, until...

The surprisingly esoteric star athlete

Star Powerlifter of the Miskatonik University
3rd Degree Mason
Student of the Occult
You all wish he was the strong silent type

Ironmonger- I like the idea!l (invite sent)! Maybe we can make it so your wife is still alive and healthy? I'm thinking something a touch more lighthearted. But an experience with the supernatural pushing people is cool and would definitely get you involved! So like your wife got pushed but ended up with just a few scrapes. And she swears she just slipped but you saw it for yourself....

ClaCle- I like the third option if that's okay (invite sent). That way you can have an NPC or PC friend who is really into this (and may be able to give you some useful advice) and you just come along for the ride, skeptic and playing moral support. I'm not a huge fan of romance, and the Chosen may be a bit too serious. I'm thinking more Scooby Doo than Buffy.

Jomsviking- nice to see you here! You're doing amazing in my other game, so I'm happy to have you! A powerlifter might be nice, and that could be a really useful skill for the team (invite sent). I am okay with a student of the occult, but in this game, the occult isn't real and you would be a conspiracy theorist and just as likely to be comically wrong as you would to be useful. If this is okay, then I'd love for you to dream up all sorts of lore and we can make a custom move to see how accurate it is. I know this changes your character design a bit, so let me know if that is okay.

I'd be down to play. I haven't played motw before, but I was in a masks oneshot so I know the basics of pbta.

Concept: A Crooked who used to be a charlatan. But some people have started becoming suspicious. You hold a fake seance one too many times and have angry relatives hunting you down for scamming poor old grieving Uncle John. Now you need to do something to convince them you 100% believe in ghosts. The idiot who put out this ad seems convinced, so you might as well. Plus if he does get a sponsor, you'll avoid taking a hit to your paycheck. Looking like a superstitious fool in front of a camera is less than ideal, but you don't have much choice.

Megalodon- I love it! That's perfect!!! I'll send the invite right now.

I can maybe take one more if anyone is dying to get in. But I'll close the thread tomorrow and start stuff then.

I'm down if you're still taking players!

Concept for the Spooky:
A college senior is voted in as the next president of her sorority. Her initiation process involves the former president giving her a shot of a strange alcohol in the basement of the house and jamming a knife into her palm. The girl wakes up in the president's suite with no trace of the former president. All that is left is a bright pink note detailing that she now has telepathic powers and can hear/see things that no one else can. She has to use these powers to protect the girls in the sorority from all of the things lurking in the town. If she can do that...well, that's where the note ends.

That same day, she sees an ad for a monster hunting group on the bulletin board in the sorority house. Her women’s self defense coach instructor is always saying to strike before your opponent. She figures maybe hunting the ghosts before they can start picking off her sorority is the best place to start.

Cool, sounds good!