This thought occurred to me recently when I was debating about purchasing the latest incarnation of the Malleus Monstrorum for Call of Cthulhu RPG. Not to down on Chaosium, but an $80 might be just a touch out of my price range given I’m not running my own Cthulhu campaign at the moment. However, I’m huge into Monster of the Week and that’s what I want the reference for.

I love pulling monsters and NPCs from one game over into another. I’ve already introduced the SCP Foundation into my MotW campaign. I sorta run a little bit of Spectrum’s Slasher Flick with some of the horror elements. I also borrow from my World of Darkness experiences. I’m a big believer in the beg, borrow, and steal style of campaign/adventure preparation.

Moving from one horror TTRPG to the next at the speed of “winging it.”

Most horror themed TTRPG interactions tend to end with an interesting story for the group to tell or possibly one or more fatalities. Old Investigator characters for Call of Cthulhu can be especially hard to find. On the other hand, old Monster Hunters in MotW are pretty much expected. It’s why they have such robust experience blocks built into the character sheets.

MotW monsters rely mostly on descriptions and the group’s ability to discover and use weaknesses against them. An early example of this in Des Moines by Night were the wooden carvings brought to life by magic. Dan could flamethrower them down fairly easily. Then it was up to the rest of the group to find the occult casters and bring them down. Human spellcasters are usually less of a challenge, especially when ritual magic is in play.

The point is, I don’t need a massive stat block of monsters in MotW games. A cultist is a cultist, just ask any Keeper. Sometimes taking down the cultists is the easy part of any Call of Cthulhu game. It’s what was being summoned that usually ends up being sanity-straining nightmare fuel.

Bringing things into MotW is fun and easy. There’s usually a little guesswork with the harm and damage potential, but the rest usually fills itself in. The real challenge lies in concocting a plan and connections for the monster. Of course, the freakier the horror, the easier it is to slowly wind its way into the scenario.

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate you. Keep gaming.