Monster of the Week The Wronged Class Guide

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The Wronged playbook in Monster of the Week plays off a classic trope, the one of the normal man or woman who lost it all to an unnatural force and vowed to become stronger, to find out everything there was to know, to build up into the warrior who could force revenge. This is going to be a familiar playbook for fans of fiction and many popular TV shows, and fits right into this world easily.

You find out about the unnatural world in the most tragic and painful way possible, but the unnatural threats made one mistake: they left you alive.

“They took my loved ones. Back then I wasn’t strong enough to fight, but I studied, trained, and now I’m ready to cleanse the world of their taint. I’ll kill them all. That’s all I have left.”

The Wronged Class, Monster of the Week, p.98

With tragic backstory in hand and nothing else to use, the training begins and sets the stage for the character you become by the time this game takes place.

Monster of the Week The Wronged Playbook
From “Supernatural” to “The X-Files,” to the classic anti-hero of many Westerns, the warrior seeking revenge on those who took everything is a common trope that can be a lot of fun to play in Monster of the Week!

Let’s dive into The Wronged Playbook and see what it has to offer!

What Is The Wronged Class In Monster of the Week RPG?

The Wronged class is always going to have a specialization. You choose one type of monster, the type that caused your tragedy. This was the beginning of your obsession and as such you know everything in regards to these creatures and get major bonuses, but it didn’t take long to find out there are other monsters out there and you pick your training to grow into the class.

You will have weapons training that ranges from modern firearms to classic swords and blades, to possibly even magic weapons or MacGyver level jury-rigged devices to hunt down the threats that an investigation brings to light.

This is the classic “revenge is all I have left” trope and while it is simple and easy to play, and fits into this world, what you do in growing the character during the table and how they interact with other players will be the difference between a forgettable Edge Lord and a genuinely interesting take on the classic revenge story.

If you want a Playbook that fights very well and loves to wade into the middle of things, then the Wronged Playbook is an excellent choice.

What Type of Wronged Will You Be?

You’re going to be Tough, that’s for sure (cue training montage) but what else will you focus on? Will you dive fully into the Weird to understand your enemy? Focus on eliminating weaknesses? Stay away from Weird but build your Sharpness to help investigate?

There are several ways to go with this class and the ratings reflect that but one thing that remains the same: you will be tough, you will be a great combat class, and when the investigation turns towards needing a force resolution, you’ll be there to help provide it.

The Wronged Ratings for MOTW Are

  • +2 Tough & Weird, 0 Sharp, -1 Charm & Cool
  • +2 Tough, +1 Weird & Charm, 0 Sharp, -1 Cool
  • +2 Tough, +1 Weird & Cool, 0 Charm, -1 Sharp
  • +2 Tough, +1 Sharp & Charm, 0 Cool, -1 Weird
  • +2 Tough, +1 Sharp, 0 Charm, Cool, & Weird

There are several options here, with the focus always on Toughness. You spent years training and molding yourself into a Monster’s nightmare and it turns out those skills are maybe even more useful than you originally expected.

What Do Wronged Moves Bring To The Table?

Every Wronged starts with the “I Know My Prey” move, and then chooses two more from the other options to start out. This gives you a very specific type of Monster you’re good at tracking, investigating, and fighting, your obsessive specialty, per se, out of which you can choose to build out from there in the way you see hit.

  • I Know My Prey – You get +1 ongoing when knowingly investigating, pursuing, or fighting the breed of monster that caused your loss. This lets you name the type of monster that is from your backstory and for whom you are a living nightmare for. This is the one mandatory move every Wronged must have, so whether vampires, werewolves, eldritch, or whatever, name your foe.
  • Berserk – No matter how much harm you take, you can always keep going until the current fight is over. During a fight, the Keeper may not use harm moves on you and you cannot die. When the fight ends, all harm takes effect as normal. This is a classic “blood lust in the midst of battle” setup and can make you a nightmare during the fight…but man you better have a teammate with some medical abilities to help you when that berserker rage wears off!
  • NEVER AGAIN – In combat, you may choose to protect someone without rolling, as if you had rolled a 10+, but you may not choose to “suffer little harm.” A great thematic move for The Wronged, and one that lets you step up as protector of the group. Great thematically and gives a mechanic that lets you protect some of the squishier members of the party.
  • What Does Not Kill Me… – If you have suffered harm in a fight, you gain +1 ongoing until the fight is over. The Wronged has that drive to keep going and when the chips are down, having one on your side who only gets stronger in a tough fight can be a huge blessing for the group of investigators.
  • Fervor – When you manipulate someone, roll +Tough instead of +Charm. This is the D&D or Pathfinder equivalent of letting a Half-Orc Rogue use STR bonus with intimidation as opposed to Charisma when trying to influence someone. Since you’re going to be Tough as The Wronged, this is a great way to help that one attribute push a little further.
  • Safety First – You have jury-rigged extra protection into your gear, giving you +1 armor (maximum 2-armor). If you’re going to be in the middle of fights, it’s always a good idea to have a little bit extra protection.
  • DIY Surgery – When you do quick and dirty first aid on someone (including yourself) roll +Cool. On a 10+ it’s all good, it counts as normal first aid, plus stabilize the injury and heal 1 harm. On a 7-9 it counts as normal first aid, plus one of these, your choice:
    • Stabilize the injury but the patient takes -1 forward.
    • Heal 1-harm and stabilize for now, but it will return as 2-harm and become unstable again later.
    • Heal 1-harm and stabilize but the patient takes -1 ongoing until it’s fixed properly.
  • Tools Matter – With your signature weapon (picked from your gear options), you get +1 to kick some ass. Why take extra defense when you can do extra damage instead? For those who are in the “The best defense is a good offense,” camp.

This is a good set of moves and fit in perfectly when it comes to theming the The Wronged playbook in the Monster of the Week RPG system.

Monster of the Week TTRPG Books
The character sheets are online in free PDF form, which is great for a group, but if you want the full experience you want these wonderful books – which have great ink art throughout.

Who Should Play The Wronged Class in Monster of the Week?

The Wronged is a fairly simple and straight forward class in MOTW, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put your own spin on it based on the moves you take. You can be a Wronged who is all combat, who fights but also focuses on protecting others from harm and delivering timely first aid, or some blend of the two.

The Wronged is a combat oriented playbook with a tragic backstory and some Paladin-like support for the party, so if any of those things sound like your cup of tea, than this is a good playbook to go with. It’ll keep you in the action and always on the ready to deal with the unnatural threats your party will frequently come up against.

Also keeps the backstory a bit simpler if you don’t want to go as in-depth as you might have to with The Expert Playbook, The Divine Playbook, The Chosen Playbook, or The Professional Playbook.

While those all offer great combat-based alternatives for classes to play, sometimes you just want it a bit simpler and the Wronged Playbook provides that.

MOTW The Wronged Class: Final Thoughts

The Wronged is a playbook that makes total sense in this system, as almost any supernatural setting will have those normal individuals who came into the world of the unnatural and supernatural because they started as victims. The Wronged is the living character or living embodiment of this story in game form and provides an outstanding option to play in The Monster of the Week TTRPG system.

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