Monster of the Week is an excellent tabletop RPG system from Evil Hat Productions that uses the Powered by the Apocalypse system of dice and offers players just what it promises: a very episodic modern RPG where a different monster, alien, supernatural, or unnatural being comes up every week and a strange mystery needs to be solved and the problem dealt with.
This system will feel very familiar to fans of TV shows like Supernatural or The X-Files, shows that had overarching plots but also had many episodes where the weekly episode was a different monster, a different hunt, a different case. The MOTW system is all about those weekly “creature feature” episodes and puts players through the same thing.
One week could be a zombie outbreak, the next a mad scientist’s robot running amuck, the next a Japanese nightmare eater eating souls because of an ethereal parasite, followed by an Eldritch horror straight out of Lovecraft.
This can lead to an outstanding series of stories where in one week it’s a clear “Kill the monster” decision, the next it’s “Something’s weird here, that guy is usually a good guy” and solving the mystery, and then a third where there’s a 50/50 argument to spare the monster or kill it and the group has to make a moral choice between two equally painful or morally questionable choices.
Or you can just kill monster after monster. Whatever floats your game master (Keeper)’s and your table’s boat.
Every Monster of the Week Playbook Review
There are 18 current playbooks, (14 in the revised MOTW handbook and 4 from the Tome of Foes) for the Monster of the Week (MOTW) system, and they cover a truly wide spectrum of potential backgrounds and playing styles. You will almost certainly be able of find a playbook (class) that you will enjoy…and if you’re like me at all the biggest problem will be choosing between multiple options!
The Chosen
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: You are the subject of prophecy – so are you meant to save the world or will you fail and will it all be destroyed?
The chosen is a combat-focused playbook for players who love playing frontline and don’t necessarily want a buffet of options or choices in front of them. The Chosen has two mandatory Moves that all Chosen need to take, which makes it simpler to design any Chosen character, and they are designed to be able to go rough and tumble with unnatural forces.
Chosen has multiple starting stat lines, which means a Chosen player can be a Tough build, a Weird build, or a bit of both. Very good fighting class with decent roleplaying possibilities thanks to the prophecy in the backstory.
Check out our full Chosen Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Crooked
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: You’re a criminal and your underworld connections inevitably led you to discover the shadowy world of the supernatural, one which you felt strangely comfortable in.
When you think Rogue in D&D you think about an extremely versatile class that does a lot of things, and The Crooked Playbook lives up to that same billing in the MOTW system. You are a criminal of some kin, but the Crooked playbook has so many different moves and starting stat blocks that you can be a charismatic grifter, a tough back alley bouncer, a sneaky cat burglar and safe cracker, or even a trained hit man.
In other words, you are a criminal, and the type of criminal element you want to be and the flavor of the build is completely up to you. That makes the Crooked a great class for anyone wanting to play a rogue-like, shady, or criminal character because this playbook has all the pieces to build in so many different directions.
Check out our full Crooked Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Divine
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: You are an other-worldly entity sent to defend the meek and bring sword to the evil, and have that streak of the unnatural in yourself as you are far from just human.
The Divine is just that – a being that comes from some sort of Divine entity. You seem to have a supernatural ability to smite supernatural evil-doers, cast out evil, or act with divine guidance, because you basically are. You are a type of supernatural, far closer to those you fight than the Mundane humans that populate the world.
This is a playbook that should remind you of the Paladin in D&D, and is perfect for being that fighter of the unnatural that can provide support in key situations to other party members, as well.
So how is a Divine Playbook different from a Chosen Playbook in Monster of the Week?
The Chosen Playbook is very fighter/combat first and you are human, but tied by prophecy or fate beyond your control. The Divine Playbook makes you from the Light, the Good, the Divine – whatever name you want to give it, and separates you as less human and more something else.
Both are excellent at combat but the Chosen is fighter all the way, while the Divine can have a bit more support to it.
Check out our full Divine Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Expert
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: The Expert always has an idea of what you might be up against and has the knowledge to not only help solve the mystery, but guide the fighters of the group to victory against the threat, as well.
The Expert Playbook in Monster of the Week is all about the TV trope of the person who knows all there is to know. They know what book talks about what demon, what magic comes from what source, and which esoteric texts mention that one special blessing and one special weapon to take out an unnatural you have a one in a billion chance of meeting.
Think Bobby from Supernatural. You are the go-to source for information which means this playbook is excellent for investigating mysteries, finding clues, and you can even make the build so they are very good at limited types of combat.
Expertise has its perks and the Expert playbook is all about proving knowledge is power, even in the MOTW universe.
Check out our full Expert Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Flake
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: You are the conspiracy theorist who everyone thinks is crazy, but you’re crazy good at investigating a supernatural mystery because you see how all the seemingly unconnected pieces actually weave a very clear tapestry.
The Flake is the conspiracy theorist who sees how every single detail ties together. This is a class that isn’t about the fighting or the supernatural use of magic, but they are a very strong investigative class. All the builds are strong in Sharp and that means they can read a bad situation and find clues where others can’t.
If you have a Flake and an Expert, you have a team that can investigate virtually any mystery with confidence.
Check out our full Flake Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Gumshoe
Playbook Found In: Monster of the Week Tome of Foes
Playbook in a Sentence: A Private Eye who has seen too much, you now find yourself a living film noir figure against unnatural forces in your area.
A Gumshoe Playbook has a wide array of starting stat lines, but you will some combination of Sharp or Charming as the core base of who you are. You need to be able to investigate, to get information from witnesses, and when things go bad to hold your own.
They are a playbook that is (unsurprisingly) good at investigating mysteries and pursuing leads. They aren’t a frontline fighter but they generally have at least a moderately good ability to defend themselves.
Because of their experience the Gumshoe gets to start off every Mystery with some additional clues to set the party on the right path, and they always have a trusty P.I. weapon for when the supernatural decides to get rough. The combination of Sharp and Charm makes them a very fun, useful, and balanced playbook.
Check out our full Gumshoe Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Hex
Playbook Found In: Monster of the Week Tome of Foes
Playbook in a Sentence: Do you want more powerful custom magic to add to your magic?
The Hex Playbook is the most controversial of the new playbooks because it is rife for abuse, especially with an experienced min-max gamer versus a new Game Keeper. In that sense it’s like the 5E dnd Lucky Feat. Unlike that often banned feat, the Hex Playbook isn’t inherently broken but it does take a lot of teamwork and good faith between storyteller and player to strike the right balance.
The Hex is all about the magic casting, and gives the player the ability to craft their own custom spells that they have practiced enough to know as Rote, meaning you basically get major magic spells that are cast at the cost or difficulty of basic magic.
The Game Keeper does need to approve each one and you will work out what happens on a full success, a partial success, and what happens on a failure. This knowledge alone makes it easier to balance the risk/reward aspect of using magic at any point.
You’ve studied Weird to become Weird, and just as with most things in MOTW extra power often comes with extra cost.
Check out our full Hex Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Initiate
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: You belong to some type of Sect or Secret Society that is dedicated to fighting against the Darkness, and you are one of them and know their secrets.
The Initiate is interesting because how they look is based on how you want your secret society to work. Are you like the Second Inquisition of Vampire: The Masquerade where your weapons are not only modern tech but customized towards one unnatural danger, or are you an old school monk relying on the staff and the sword and centuries of proven monster slaying martial arts?
Or maybe you’re like Neo from The Matrix and have both. The blend of old fashioned weapons, new weapons, and armor options means initiates can look and play very different. One could be a hacker with a broadsword while another goes from sniper rifle to hand-to-hand combat in a very Blade type style.
There’s a lot to play with here but this is a class where you are joining other hunters because you focus mostly on fighting…but that doesn’t mean your Sect won’t feed you a case, good information, or that you can’t develop a mystical ability to track the unnatural.
You might not be Chosen per se, but your enemies will fear you as if you are.
Check out our full Initiate Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Monstrous
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: You’re not human, but you’re not one of them, not yet, and you fight them to not only prove it to others but yourself as you harness your own supernatural powers.
You are not human, and you have a curse. The nature of that curse, of what you are, goes a long way to determining what you can do, who you are, and what temptations you need to fight against to make sure you never give in. If you burn enough Luck then it’s game over for your human side and you become one of the things you hunt.
Until then, whether as a werewolf, a shapeshifter, a vampire, or some half-eldritch horror, you walk the earth and for the time being join this team of hunters to investigate the strange going-ons in the area.
Monstrous classes are heavy in combat and can be built to do serious damage, which makes sense considering what you are. There are many flavors of Monstrous and they are a very entertaining playbook to play out of.
Check out our full Monstrous Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Mundane
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: You’re just an ordinary hum-drum human with no special knowledge or abilities whatsoever, but you know unnatural threats exist so…best of luck?
The mundane is just the person who is in over their head, but they are making the most of it. Their super power in this system is they can get experience a LOT, even from things like wandering off from the group, becoming kidnapped by an unnatural, and you do seem to have a knack for failing your way to success.
This is a weirdly interesting class but thanks to their ability to level up fast if they can survive the first few sessions, they can become strangely effective. They won’t be great at support or investigation or fighting, but they’re one of the few classes where one Playbook can be decent to good at all three of those aspects.
Check out our full Mundane Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Pararomantic
Playbook Found In: Monster of the Week Tome of Foes
Playbook in a Sentence: You have a deep, likely romantic, relationship with an unnatural and that can lead to help, powers, or severe consequences.
Maybe you were always into forbidden love, maybe somehow you just stumbled into it, but you are in a relationship with an unnatural that is very likely secret. As a pararomantic you are charming, which is likely how you got into this relationship, but all relationships must be maintained to stay healthy.
While that bond gives many benefits, that relationship bond can also sour and be abused and if that happens, it’s very possible that during a mystery your unnatural partner could turn into an enemy if it goes too far. This relationship is inherently doomed, but until then…
Check out our full Pararomantic Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Professional
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: It’s your literal job to hunt down monsters and you’re a professional – you do it well.
You work for an organization. This could be a private organization, it could be a secret government agency, or a little spoke about branch of an existing one like Homeland Security. Point is you get paid and you get some very good gear that can range from a sniper rifle to a grenade launcher.
You are here for combat and giving other hunters support while in combat. Working with a team of hunters makes a lot of sense since they will do the investigative legwork and you will come in and help when push comes to shove and action needs to be taken.
And a team of investigators is always happy to have a professional on their side.
Check out our full Professional Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Searcher
Playbook Found In: Monster of the Week Tome of Foes
Playbook in a Sentence: You had an unexplainable event that opened your eyes to the fact that supernatural beings exist and now you search for true unnatural occurrences wherever they may take place.
A cryptid hunter who came face-to-face with a cryptid, a normal person abducted by aliens, whatever the event that changed the course of The Searcher’s life. They trained to learn what to look for and are a class that is very good at investigating mysteries and has many tools to do so.
Check out our full Searcher Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Snoop
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: The wannabe celebrity version of a Searcher or Flake, you are looking to prove once and for all that cryptids are real and expose this truth to the entire world…and maybe get a fat movie or book deal out of it, in the process.
This is a fun playbook that is again playing off a popular TV trope / movie trope of a character type that often appears in this genre with the main stat being Charm with a secondary stat in Sharp. You are great at investigating mysteries, even if you often stumble into clues by accident, and may have an entire TV crew with you.
This is a fun playbook that can add a bit of a Scooby Doo element to the weekly mystery, or this even works as the entire party’s make up with a Mundane running cameras, a Searcher working as Editor, etc.
Check out our full Snoop Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Spell-Slinger
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: You’re a blaster caster adding all the extra damage to your Weird magic casting.
The Spell-Slinger is very akin to Sorcerer in D&D as they are all about the Combat Magic and all about hyping up or shaping their magic to fit them in both shape and type. You can pick the elemental damage you do and the effect, and the good news is you don’t have to pigeonhole yourself.
For every spell in combat you pick three total descriptives (Bases + Effects) to any spell you throw with at least one being an effect. That means in a fight with a wood Fay creature running amuck might start with a necromantic fire blast but the next fight against a fire elemental might require an Earth Ice Wall for defense and protection.
You might need some specific items to help prop up your magic, but you are spell craft you can mold your combat magic the way you want and even pick up a move or two that helps with acting under pressure or protecting you and other teammates.
Fun class that is excellent for magic, especially magic in combat.
Check out our full Spell-Slinger Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Spooktacular
Playbook Found In: Originally online playbook release, included in revised MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: You’re part of a traveling spooky carnival that has much more to it than first meets the eye.
Whether it’s a circus, carnival, freak show, or some other traveling show – you are part of a renowned show that has more to it than meets the eye. For those searching for signs of the unnatural, your show will bring it in spades. Are you in charge, or just a high ranking member of the group?
You have a mystical item, a Charming and Weird personality, and the kingmaker of all freshman college dorms: a vehicle!
The show comes with its own benefits…and problems, and you know how to wheel and deal, use magic subtlety in crowded situations, or put on a show if everyone else needs a distraction.
Also a great class for a player who can’t make every session because of schedule, because in-game they can simply be “Out of town due to the carnival schedule.” When they can play, the show is back and better than ever!
Check out our full Spooktacular Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Spooky
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: You’re weird and you have additional magical abilities from a source that, you know what, let’s not talk about that, I’m sure it’s fine.
The Spooky focuses on the Weird stat and spellcasting, with a lot of their moves helping to boost magic in some way, shape, or form although there is a fortune teller/psychic route you can build with moves if you want to go more investigative mystic than blaster master.
This playbook feels akin to the warlock in D&D, and there are some similarities, including the fact that there are temptations that can affect the Spell-Slinger or that they have to roll against because that’s from the entity or source boosting their magic.
Fun class that is decent for ranged magic combat and can be made to investigate. It’s a great caster class when you want the power of magic, but not the extra complications.
Check out our full Spooky Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
The Wronged
Playbook Found In: Original MOTW Handbook
Playbook in a Sentence: You were there when an unnatural took everything from you and now it’s a life devoted to revenge against all the unnatural – but SPECIFICALLY that one type of unnatural.
They took everything from you, now you’re going to take everything from them. This is a combat-heavy class. You are Tough and you have Move after Move that makes you even stronger or gives you a wide array of medical and field support skills that your team will find valuable in a really tough fight.
Revenge is the motivation here and the backstory lets you choose your favorite foe to hunt down everywhere…and if you can catch a few other supernatural threats along the way then all the better!
Check out our full Wronged Playbook review here on Assorted Meeples to learn more!
What Will Future Monster of the Week Playbooks Bring To The Table?
There is an incredibly active community of homebrew specialists who have created their own playbooks for Monster of the Week. Some are very niche or clearly overpowered, but there are many that are incredibly well-balanced and add a neat potential addition to this world. Just a short list of homebrew playbooks for MOTW includes:
- The Action Scientist
- The Apprentice
- The Big Game Hunter
- The Constructed
- The Cryptozoologist
- The Deathless
- The Doomed
- The Freelancer
- The Henderson (crazy old person)
- The Luchador
- The Mad Scientist
- The Meddling Kid
- The Mystic
- The Ordained
- The Skeptic (OK, Agent Scully)
- The Traveler
- The Veteran (Think “I’m too old for this sh*t”)
And this is hardly a complete list. There are many, many more homebrew playbooks available for players.
If you want a huge list of both official and homebrew classes for MOTW, I recommend this link which has a detailed list that includes links to free online PDF character sheets so you can try them out. Keep in mind that anything that is homebrew will need to be approved by the game master. The full number of available classes is outstanding and covers a a wide array of player backgrounds and potential styles, but if you find a homebrew that you’re itching to try out, it never hurts to give it a shot!
These are the current playbooks that players can pick from the Monster of the Week RPG system, and the only question left is which one are you going to give a try next?
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Proud to embrace the locally created moniker of “Corrupt Overlord” from one of the all time great Lords of Waterdeep runs, Shane is one member of the Assorted Meeples crew and will be hard at work creating awesome content for the website. He is a long-time player of board games, one time semi-professional poker player, and tends to run to the quirky or RPG side of things when it comes to playing video games. He loves tabletop roleplaying systems like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Werewolf, Fate, and others, and not only has been a player but has run games as DM for years. You can find his other work in publications like Level Skip or Hobby Lark.