Applicant questions

[Knave]

Questions about the game or the application process? Fire away

[Neopopulas]

I have the original edition - the indiegogo one - is it more or less the same?

Its this cover;

As opposed to this one from the site;

Edited June 7, 2023 by Neopopulas (see edit history)

[Knave]

I also have the former.

 

I think they are essentially the same, it's the Tome of Mysteries supplement that updates some of the rules wording, which I won't be using.

[Neopopulas]

Awesome. I've had the book for ages so i'd love to give it a shot. I haven't actually played ant PbtA games yet so it'll be interesting.

[Shen]

I have both Monster of the Week 1e and Monster of the Week Revised Edition. This is an interesting concept, I'm mostly just worried about not knowing that much about the setting, having never been to London (or indeed Great Britain) once. A part of me wants to play a janitor or other member of faculty or staff rather than a student, as I think I could get into that mindset easier, but I don't want to break away from the concept.

[emotionaut]

Is this world one where monsters and magic are known? Or is it more like Buffy where it happens largely in the shadows and most people are clueless or repress the memories to stay sane?

[Knave]

@Shen

A lot of First Years arrive in Oxford and it's their first time in the UK. You could play a character in that situation? I'm happy to provide guidance.Feel free to consider a member of staff as an option. I'd ask you to think about how you came to be part of this secret society

Edited June 6, 2023 by Knave (see edit history)

[Knave]

1 hour ago, emotionaut said:

Is this world one where monsters and magic are known? Or is it more like Buffy where it happens largely in the shadows and most people are clueless or repress the memories to stay sane?

Very much the second. It's our real world from the outside.

[Rayth]

Ooh, I've wanted to give this game a try for a while. I've played a little PbtA, some actual Apocalypse World and some Urban Shadows; I'm always a fan of urban fantasy settings.

A question: after some brief research, I think the Revised Edition has a couple of playbooks that the base edition doesn't; the Crooked, the Divine, and the Spell-Slinger, to be exact. I believe these playbooks are available for download on the Evil Hat website.

Are these playbooks available? As a Dresden Files fan, I'm drawn to the Spell-Slinger, though the Divine also sounds kind of cool. If they aren't available, that's still fine; I'm tinkering with some ideas for a Spooky that I've begun to really like, as well. Just wanted to ask for clarity.

[Neopopulas]

14 hours ago, Shen said:

I have both Monster of the Week 1e and Monster of the Week Revised Edition. This is an interesting concept, I'm mostly just worried about not knowing that much about the setting, having never been to London (or indeed Great Britain) once. A part of me wants to play a janitor or other member of faculty or staff rather than a student, as I think I could get into that mindset easier, but I don't want to break away from the concept.

I'd just suggest a foreign student, a non-english first-language student would do even better because then you could play even more fish-out-of-water and not worry when you don't know something.

 

12 hours ago, Knave said:

Very much the second. It's our real world from the outside.

I'm getting a very 'Rivers of London' vibe, if you're familiar with it. It has that whole 'ancient magic is a real thing' alongside normal modern day stuff. The whole 'urban magic' thing is something i really like.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Neopopulas (see edit history)

[Summer Silver]

Quick question on an idea I had. I was thinking of a first year who is looking for OUMHS specifically without knowing what it's about or having monster experience. The basic idea so far was a Mundane who had an older sibling that went to the same college and disappeared, leaving behind some notebooks/diaries that make some vague references to OUMHS without saying clearly what it is. So little sis gets into the same college and is trying to figure out what happened to their older sibling, kind of stumbling into the magical stuff.

 

Not married to the idea yet, just a first thought, and while it felt kind of to theme it didn't fit exactly with what was stated in the creation rules about first years so I figured I'd ask before exploring it further.

[Knave]

4 hours ago, Rayth said:

A question: after some brief research, I think the Revised Edition has a couple of playbooks that the base edition doesn't; the Crooked, the Divine, and the Spell-Slinger, to be exact. I believe these playbooks are available for download on the Evil Hat website.

Yep, those are available.

[Knave]

54 minutes ago, Neopopulas said:

I'm getting a very 'Rivers of London' vibe, if you're familiar with it.

I wasn't, but I just looked it up, and yes it's adjacent.

Funnily, I *almost* referenced Old Father Thames in my opening monologue, but it didn't survive the final editing

[Knave]

4 minutes ago, Summer Silver said:

Quick question on an idea I had. I was thinking of a first year who is looking for OUMHS specifically without knowing what it's about or having monster experience. The basic idea so far was a Mundane who had an older sibling that went to the same college and disappeared, leaving behind some notebooks/diaries that make some vague references to OUMHS without saying clearly what it is. So little sis gets into the same college and is trying to figure out what happened to their older sibling, kind of stumbling into the magical stuff.

 

Not married to the idea yet, just a first thought, and while it felt kind of to theme it didn't fit exactly with what was stated in the creation rules about first years so I figured I'd ask before exploring it further.

I personally really like that idea, it's an idea I had myself. You'll very quickly solve the mystery of "is magic real, and what's this secret society?" but the mystery of "what happened to him/ her?" will persist

[Knave]

1 hour ago, Neopopulas said:

I'd just suggest a foreign student, a non-english first-language student would do even better because then you could play even more fish-out-of-water and not worry when you don't know something.

Would be cool to have a first year from a different monster hunting tradition, who just came to Oxford to get away from it all...