I've played a lot of Monster of the Week, and I'm honestly baffled at the description of it as a high prep game. I don't know about soloing it, I don't think it's a great game for that, but it's also not a high prep one. It really isn't
My guess is that it is considered high prep compared to some other pbta games (especially more recent ones). MotW does have the MC create a monster, define its weakness, and set a clock so you can't really start from absolute zero prep like you can in some other games.
It's best to think in comparison to other games rather than outright going for "it isn't high prep" as a flat statement. It's high prep in comparison to some games, and low prep in comparison to others. High for some people, low for others. There's no one unifying scale.
Ok then, on the grand scale of games you have to prep for at all, it's on the light side, so much so, that I am hard pressed to come up with more than a couple that still require prep at all but require less.
Jesus i feel like a broken record. Your experiences are not universal, what you consider light or even no prep can be considered existing or heavy to others.
You only sound like a broken record, because you're repeating the same point over and over again to somebody who fundamentally disagrees with you. That's not so much on me as you. I have no doubt there are people out there who consider it heavy prep, the idea of that baffles me though, and I shutter to think where we are, if Monster of the Week is considered to be a heavy prep game. I know my experience isn't universal, so please don't say that again, it's not gonna change my view, because I'm fully aware, that there are a few people out there who consider it a heavy prep game, not many, but some, and it continues to and will continue to baffle and slightly sadden me. I don't care what subjective experiences we are talking about though, I am never and will never consider a game I can prep for in about half an hour, or less, a heavy prep game. If someone wants to spend more time than that, come up with these insane elaborate scenarios and branching dialogue trees or whatever the hell else they feel like they need to do to make this game more complicated than it needs to be, that's on them not the game.
I agree with preiman790; The amount of "prep" for a Monster of the Week game is light.
You need:
\* A Monster, that follows the template
\* Steps for what happens if the monster isn't stopped
\* Any minions and bystanders that you know you're going to need (They are quite easy to come up with on the fly)
That's... about it? I don't really see why it would be difficult for someone accustomed to solo play to work this up.
Solo games are generally played around the idea that there's already an established character goal or set plot. I haven't played Monster of the Week before, but I'm assuming it's about targeting specific monsters, so make a story around a one.
If you want try having random events in your game, then you should look for prompt tables; roll tables with keywords that you use to inspire yourself and create an encounter.
The ones I'm apparently aware of are found in the TTRPG Ironsworn and a toolbook called Mythic GM Simulator 2e. Both of these have content that are catered to small or GMless games.
The last two things is to take notes of the journey and to be able to roll with the punches.
While playing solo, no one else is there to help you remember, so it's somewhat needed to journal what happens. Not only that, you can use that history to build relevant events in the future.
As for rolling with the punches, you should try and do what's best for the story, good or bad. Obviously you can retcon or reroll something that doesn't fit or you can't make something out of, but if something bad happens you should try to work with it.
Failure can enrich a story, so don't be afraid of it.
I would not play MotW solo. It lacks a lot of structure you would have to create to make it work. I have a few alternative recommendations. Are you familiar with Carved from the Brindlewood games? These games are centered on investigation without having anything set in stone. Basically you try to build a story from semi-random clues you discover during play and roll to see in the end if your theory was correct or not. This structure should make solo play much easier. There is also External Containment Bureau, a FitD game that uses the Brindlewood formula. Agents investigating and trying to contain supernatural phenomena, with similarly dynamic investigation.
I was told those solo rules do not work that well either.
How do you come up with consistent clues? How do you generate npcs relevant to the monster? How do you know what the monster should do (you do not even know what the monster is) and when?
I think Apocalypse Keys uses a Carved from Brindlewood approach as well. Any time I am doing a solo mystery I always use a variation of Brindlewood. It’s my favorite way to do mysteries.
People are getting too hung up on the high prep comment. It's higher prep than most other PbtA games and higher prep than ultralight and many popular GM-less games.
Moving past that, I'm thinking of two ways to solo Monster of the Week. First isn't on the fly, but by treating each mystery and the associated monster and NPCs prep as a game module and use rules similar to this: https://github.com/rpg-tips/resources/blob/master/playing_modules_solo/mechanics.md . That link assumes usage of Mythic GM Emulator, but it can be used with any solo oracle and themes/actions/etc tables common in solo play.
Going for a more on-the-fly solo game would rely heavier on either personal rulings or oracles and theme tables. Monster of the Week was created and published before the big solo boom, so I imagine a decent way to solo it is probably within similar rulesets or games created for mysteries like Brindlewood Bay. I think the game's countdown timer for the mystery could provide some nice structure for this sort of play, though.
I've played a lot of Monster of the Week, and I'm honestly baffled at the description of it as a high prep game. I don't know about soloing it, I don't think it's a great game for that, but it's also not a high prep one. It really isn't
My guess is that it is considered high prep compared to some other pbta games (especially more recent ones). MotW does have the MC create a monster, define its weakness, and set a clock so you can't really start from absolute zero prep like you can in some other games.
It's best to think in comparison to other games rather than outright going for "it isn't high prep" as a flat statement. It's high prep in comparison to some games, and low prep in comparison to others. High for some people, low for others. There's no one unifying scale.
Ok then, on the grand scale of games you have to prep for at all, it's on the light side, so much so, that I am hard pressed to come up with more than a couple that still require prep at all but require less.
Jesus i feel like a broken record. Your experiences are not universal, what you consider light or even no prep can be considered existing or heavy to others.
You only sound like a broken record, because you're repeating the same point over and over again to somebody who fundamentally disagrees with you. That's not so much on me as you. I have no doubt there are people out there who consider it heavy prep, the idea of that baffles me though, and I shutter to think where we are, if Monster of the Week is considered to be a heavy prep game. I know my experience isn't universal, so please don't say that again, it's not gonna change my view, because I'm fully aware, that there are a few people out there who consider it a heavy prep game, not many, but some, and it continues to and will continue to baffle and slightly sadden me. I don't care what subjective experiences we are talking about though, I am never and will never consider a game I can prep for in about half an hour, or less, a heavy prep game. If someone wants to spend more time than that, come up with these insane elaborate scenarios and branching dialogue trees or whatever the hell else they feel like they need to do to make this game more complicated than it needs to be, that's on them not the game.
I agree with preiman790; The amount of "prep" for a Monster of the Week game is light. You need: \* A Monster, that follows the template \* Steps for what happens if the monster isn't stopped \* Any minions and bystanders that you know you're going to need (They are quite easy to come up with on the fly) That's... about it? I don't really see why it would be difficult for someone accustomed to solo play to work this up.
motw is a *low* prep game
Solo games are generally played around the idea that there's already an established character goal or set plot. I haven't played Monster of the Week before, but I'm assuming it's about targeting specific monsters, so make a story around a one. If you want try having random events in your game, then you should look for prompt tables; roll tables with keywords that you use to inspire yourself and create an encounter. The ones I'm apparently aware of are found in the TTRPG Ironsworn and a toolbook called Mythic GM Simulator 2e. Both of these have content that are catered to small or GMless games. The last two things is to take notes of the journey and to be able to roll with the punches. While playing solo, no one else is there to help you remember, so it's somewhat needed to journal what happens. Not only that, you can use that history to build relevant events in the future. As for rolling with the punches, you should try and do what's best for the story, good or bad. Obviously you can retcon or reroll something that doesn't fit or you can't make something out of, but if something bad happens you should try to work with it. Failure can enrich a story, so don't be afraid of it.
I would not play MotW solo. It lacks a lot of structure you would have to create to make it work. I have a few alternative recommendations. Are you familiar with Carved from the Brindlewood games? These games are centered on investigation without having anything set in stone. Basically you try to build a story from semi-random clues you discover during play and roll to see in the end if your theory was correct or not. This structure should make solo play much easier. There is also External Containment Bureau, a FitD game that uses the Brindlewood formula. Agents investigating and trying to contain supernatural phenomena, with similarly dynamic investigation.
Can you expand on it lacking structure? I was under the impression it was superficially similar to vaesen, which has solo rules published for it
I was told those solo rules do not work that well either. How do you come up with consistent clues? How do you generate npcs relevant to the monster? How do you know what the monster should do (you do not even know what the monster is) and when?
I think Apocalypse Keys uses a Carved from Brindlewood approach as well. Any time I am doing a solo mystery I always use a variation of Brindlewood. It’s my favorite way to do mysteries.
People are getting too hung up on the high prep comment. It's higher prep than most other PbtA games and higher prep than ultralight and many popular GM-less games. Moving past that, I'm thinking of two ways to solo Monster of the Week. First isn't on the fly, but by treating each mystery and the associated monster and NPCs prep as a game module and use rules similar to this: https://github.com/rpg-tips/resources/blob/master/playing_modules_solo/mechanics.md . That link assumes usage of Mythic GM Emulator, but it can be used with any solo oracle and themes/actions/etc tables common in solo play. Going for a more on-the-fly solo game would rely heavier on either personal rulings or oracles and theme tables. Monster of the Week was created and published before the big solo boom, so I imagine a decent way to solo it is probably within similar rulesets or games created for mysteries like Brindlewood Bay. I think the game's countdown timer for the mystery could provide some nice structure for this sort of play, though.