Monster of the Week (2012)

Overview

Monster of the Week (MOTW) is an urban fantasy-horror tabletop role-playing game developed by Michael Sands. It was first published in 2012, and a revised edition was published by Evil Hat Productions in 2015. The entire theme of the game is heavily inspired by TV shows like Buffy, Supernatural, X-Files, Fringe and many others. The system it directly evolved from is
Apocalypse World (2010)
Description Players in the MOTW system take on the role of monster hunters. Capable of dealing with most creatures that might get in their way. Using skills to solve mysteries, track monsters and eventually defeat them.  System Overview & Key Features
Powered by the Apocalypse Engine (2d6) Players roll two six-sided dice (2d6) when performing actions, adding relevant character modifiers to the result. Rolling a 10 or higher is considered a success. 7-9 is a partial success, which will also carry some added consequences. Getting a 6 or lower means failure - you have not succeeded in whatever you attempted and dire consequences are soon to follow.
Basic and Playbook Moves Game mechanics are categorized into discrete actions called "Moves." Basic Moves are universally available to all characters and cover common actions such as "Investigate a Mystery," "Kick Some Ass," or "Act Under Pressure." Playbook Moves are exclusive, specialized abilities granted by a character's chosen Playbook, allowing them to manipulate the narrative or game mechanics in unique ways.
Finite Luck Points Each character possesses a limited track of Luck points. A player may permanently expend a point of Luck to retroactively alter a dice roll to a 12 (a complete success) or to entirely negate a single instance of sustained damage. Luck is a resource the players have to keep an eye on. Using too much can get you out of trouble, but if you don't have it when you need it most - trouble awaits.
Harm and Exploiting Weaknesses Physical trauma is tracked using a short monitor called "Harm." Player characters and adversaries possess low thresholds for sustaining Harm, making direct combat inherently dangerous. To successfully defeat a primary antagonist, players are mechanically required to investigate and utilize the creature's specific weakness, as standard physical attacks are often insufficient to achieve a permanent victory.
The Mystery Countdown To structure a gameplay session, the Keeper utilizes a tool called the Countdown. This is a chronological timeline detailing the sequence of events that will occur if the player characters fail to intervene. The Countdown is divided into escalating phases, ending with a catastrophic event. It serves to govern the pacing of the investigation and provide a sense of urgency.
Additional links evilhat.com https://evilhat.com - Official Evil Hat Productions website genericgames.co.nz https://genericgames.co.nz - Official home of Michael Sands and the original game files

Active games and players

MotW
Monster of the Week
Online
Campaign
Motw - Night Shift
Players
0/4
GM
1/1
Monster of the Week
en English

Motw - Night Shift

LGBTQ+ friendly LGBTQ+ friendly
No paid games No paid games
Game system: monster of the week (pbta) tools: discord (voice required), roll20 time zone: 19:30 EST every monday running for about two hours (campaign) date of the game: session zero July 27th player slots: 0/4 pitch/hook: you are workers in the night shift of a megastore often visited by weird people, creatures and God knows what else. A monster hunting game with elements of comedy/dark humor. language: english if interested, please fill this form and I'll contact you: https://forms.gle/WYT2WaDBjUezyv3k6

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MotW
Monster of the Week
Online
Campaign
Assorted TTRPG Games
Players
4/7
GM
1/1
Monster of the Week
en English

Assorted TTRPG Games

We're a group of 30+ players who rotate RPG Games between refs. Currently playing MotW. Next up Cyberpunk possibly. Monday Night 8-10pm Looking for 1 or 2 more players.

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New
Posted 2 hours ago
en English
BitD
Blades in the Dark
CoC
Call of Cthulhu
...
Online
Izzy
I'm Izzy. 28. They/it.  I have over 10 years of experience in the tabletop space. On/off over the years with playing as finding groups that stay together takes time.  I have played in 2 completed 5e dnd campaigns that lasted over 2 years separately. Rime of the Frostmaiden & a homebrew Strahd campaign.  I will happily play in 5e & 5.5e games, though I have had an increased interest in p2fe/p2fre!  Tabletop games i have liked and played, would play again: 5e, pf2e, Vampire the Masquerade, Monster of the Week, Monsterhearts, Wanderhome, Call of Cthulhu  Tabletops I have not played but would be interested in: Blades in the Dark, Scum and Villainy, other Powered by the Apocalypse games or Forged in the Dark games, pf1e, Werewolf the Apocalypse, other World of Darkness games, Cyberpunk Red, etc etc My main goal as a player is to be a group player, to be someone that is wholly on the team with the other players! I love the collaborative nature of tabletop most, and why I always hold myself to be flexible and prioritize everyone's enjoyment and keep the table flowing! My characrer ideas are always many, but playing a characrer to the T is not a priority in the sense; that if it disrupts the flow and story of the table or conflicts wirh the group? Then I scrap that idea or develop the character different to mesh better!
en English
DH
Daggerheart
CoC
Call of Cthulhu
...
Online
Matt Hunter
Hey, I'm Matt (or Wayne). I like building characters with actual flaws who make questionable decisions for the sake of a good narrative arc. I tend to get overly invested in fictional worlds, which is probably why I'm here. If you're looking for a player who cares about your world lore and actually wants to know why the grumpy tavern owner is moody, I'm your guy. I'm not really here to crunch numbers into oblivion or argue over combat grid geometry. I'm way more interested in the messy, collaborative storytelling part of things. Think less tactical strike force and more chaotic found family trying to survive the plot. So yeah, if your table leans heavily into deep roleplay, exploring the setting, and letting characters actually talk to each other before things inevitably blow up, we'll probably get along great. My schedule is very flexible except for sleep time.
en English
DND5E
Dungeons & Dragons 5E
DND5.5E
Dungeons & Dragons 5.5E (2024)
...
Online
Lapis
Howdy all, I'm Lapis. Late twenties gay man-thing who enjoys high fantasy as much as modern and sci-fantasy. I'm prone to making characters with detailed, thought out back stories with NPC fodder written in. I tend to play casters and healers, but can fenagle those builds to fit any combat position. I love making characters themed around witchcraft, fashion, the performing arts, the fair folk, and nature. My favorite classes in DnD are Bard, Wizard, and Druid. Some of my favorite media that influences and inspires me include Delicious in Dungeon, Frieren Beyond Journey's End, Mononoke, Agatha All Along, FFXIV, FFX, FFXIV, FFXIV, Bayonetta, Fire Emblem Fates, RWBY, ATLA, Genshin Impact, Castlevania and Castlevania Nocturne, and League of Legends. I'm a player who loves roleplay, exploration, and meaningful combat. If I sound like a good fit for your table, feel free to message me!

Other entries

Update log - 13.05.2026 “A year of Groupfinder”
Update log

Update log - 13.05.2026 “A year of Groupfinder”

Its gonna be May. /images/general-media/1778679800_avRWtoFC.gifThis is gonna ruin the tour... Well, it already is May - and its time for this month’s overview of what we have done during the last month. We would like to keep you updated as to how the platform is evolving and growing - especially since many of our updates might be something you have not noticed (you can read the last month's update log here). Birthday.. Of sorts It was the end of April of last year when we released the current version of Groupfinder. Partly. Most of you might not be aware that Groupfinder was first launched in 2021. We first created the platform for the Estonian TTRPG community to help our local players find groups and players more easily. And it was well-received and used, prompting us to keep working on it, improving and tweaking. /images/general-media/1778679949_qEWkiP3e.jpgHow far we've come since 2021.  Many years later, we decided to step it up a notch and redesign the entire platform and open it up to the world. More than half a year later, Groupfinder (now called Groupfinder, not Grupileidja) was finally released. It took us a few months before we were ready for the global audience. In september, we had our ducks in a row and we started spreading the word about the platform. Users from all over the world slowly started discovering the site and signing up. Gaining initial traction was a difficult task - users would not bother to use Groupfinder, because there weren’t users on the platform. A vicious circle that eventually was resolved thanks to our early pioneers, willing to give us a shot and posted their profiles and groups here. And now, a year later, we can see the platform has almost 6000 registered users with over 1500 active profiles and almost 700 active groups.    Players and systems During the last month, we improved player post creation - choosing the game system is now more visual and clearer. In addition - the process has been integrated with the Library. If a system exists there, it will be more visually distinct. As well as linked to the corresponding Library entry page. Hopefully more players will discover alternative systems to try out. /images/general-media/1778680166_bQADP9rj.pngChoosing the correct systems has never been easier. On Groupfinder The player profile page itself has also been updated and refreshed in multiple ways, making your profile a better calling card for you. Panel is Dashboard We used to call the homepage, the Panel. But we realized, that it didn’t make that much sense to most users. So it is now Dashboard. Not a huge change - but a change nonetheless. The dashboard also received multiple updates and tweaks to make things less cluttered and messy. Library is getting stocked During the month, the library has received multiple new entries. By multiple - I believe we can say well over a hundred new entries have been added. There are multiple new tools, video creators and podcasts/actual play entries for you to discover. Waiting for your next session? Perfect time to start enjoying an actual play series to keep the hype going and perhaps be inspired by the way other groups play. Article series “Covering the basics” We also started with an introductory blog series called “Covering the basics”. Something to guide new players taking their first steps in the hobby. Currently there is one for “Making a character” and one for “How to start as a Dungeon Master”.    And while not part of the series, you might want to take a look at the “Safety tools” article. Something to consider when starting a group with people you’ve never played with before. Tweaks & fixes We've kept a watchful eye on various bugs and problems that needed addressing. The mobile notifications were overly aggressive and at times got a bit spammy - we've told the messenger to calm down.  In messenger you can now react to messages, making it easier for you to agree upon a certain ruling or arrangement. Or, if you like, you can send an image of surprised Pikachu. Sending images in messenger is now possible. Sending a message to someone, but they just won't respond? Hover over their timezone on their profile and see what time it is for them. Maybe they are sleeping. Maybe you should also be? May-be that is all Thanks for reading this month’s update. We will keep on working on things in the background. You can join the Groupfinder discord server if you want to share some thoughts or problems with the platform.   And as always - if you have found Groupfinder useful in any way - be sure to share it with others. Either via a social media post, or just tell your friends about it. You sharing Groupfinder helps us grow. And with more users - more groups. Till next time.

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Tales From the Shelf
Actual Play & Podcasts

Tales From the Shelf

TTRPG
English
Discussions
Tales from the Shelf is two gamers, one American who started with D&D, and an English person...who did not. We take on the campaigns we run, the systems we use, the things we learn. With deep dives in on specific books, gaming advice and RPG history. Links podcastaddict.com - Podcast feed

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Rola Iniciativa
Actual Play & Podcasts

Rola Iniciativa

Portuguese
Dungeons & Dragons
Actual Play
Rola Iniciativa pretende ser uma ferramenta de divulgação dos jogos narrativos em Língua Portuguesa! Links youtube.com - Youtube channel twitch.tv - Twitch channel

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