#mike sands

[thryth-gaming]

Escalating Curses in Monster of the Week

So, a little bit ago I wrote a thing where I created five different takes on a pop-culture vampire. In the course of this, I ended up thinking about how to address some of the curses you can get for the Monstrous playbook. Some of the traditional curses can sometimes get in the way of fun, this is a to-taste matter so it will vary from one person to another.

Mainly I'm thinking about things like the traditional vampire weakness to daylight which runs into a problem if only one character is limited by that curse. On the other hand, there's curses like vulnerability which can sometimes be a bit on the bland side as on the surface they're only about taking extra damage. Then it occurred to me that the escalation the book says happens as Luck is spent is key to using these.

First things first

I'm going to go over several theoreticals here that cover the entire range of how much Luck the character has left. However, it's probably best not to preplan this out too hard. Have a talk with the player ahead of time about general direction of how they want things to go, but don't determine details until they spend that Luck. Best to keep the discovery fresh and you might have neat idea that occurs to you later on when the Luck is spent.

In general talk over all the options with the hunter as well as the team in general. Curses like Pure Drive bring up the touchy subjects of lust and rage, which may touch on personal traumas. And Feed is about needing to eat people which is disturbing to most people. Even in a fictional instance..

Pervasive Curse

A pervasive curse in this context is one that is present most of the time in most places. The best example I have of this is the traditional vampire weakness to daylight as the world spends half of its time in daytime. If one of your characters can't walk out into the daylight without bursting into fire, then it's going to severely limit how the team cooperates.

Either you're going to do a lot of split time situations moving back and forth between the vampire and the team mates, or you're going to spend most of your time at night. In one circumstance the players spend significant time not sharing scenes with each other. Granted, it is standard practice to split the party in MotW, but it feels a bit meh to always be doing so for the same reason and could produce irritation when it's always the same player provoking the need. In the other case, if you're always doing stuff at night, the curse doesn't apply very often, which means it starts to fade into the background and stop impacting the game, making things less fun.

But the escalation with Luck is the key here. Don't start right away at daylight burns instead consider this advancement of things. Using how much Luck the Monstrous has left.

7: Supernatural impact. Daylight only causes a -1 ongoing if the vampire tries to use their monstrous supernatural powers*. Daylight only causes damage when focused through weapons**.

6: So bright. The daylight -1 ongoing now affects perception and searches (not just vision because you're distracted). You cannot remove Unstable.

5: Feel weak. You now suffer -1 ongoing to even mortal magic and any strenuous physical activity. Powers that destabilize the body*** cost 1 harm to use as sunlight passes through the skin.

4: It hurts. You now suffer -1 ongoing to keep your emotions in check. You mark Unstable as long as you stay in daylight.

3: It burns. You now suffer -1 ongoing to everything in daylight. For this and each further step, the Keeper is encouraged to use less and less leeway for when to trigger the Unstable the vampire gets in daylight as of Luck 4.

The footnotes:

* This includes Unholy Strength and Unnatural Appeal if they choose to use Weird for KSA or Manipulate. If they use magic available to mortals they might get around this.

** Talismans channeling the spiritual essence of daylight, UV lights, or both depending on your particular mythology.

*** The two big ones here are Incorporeal and Shapeshifter. Basically changing to a bat momentarily strips the protections you have from skin or clothes.

You can instead use Luck to determine how easy it is limit exposure such as the following:

7: Parasol

6: Light cloud cover.

5: Clothes covering most of the body.

4: Thick Overcast.

3: Covering all skin and wearing goggles.

2: Indoors

1: Blacked out windows.

0: Windowless room.

You can even mix these options together. For example say a vampire a Luck 5 can use a parasol to prevent being marked Unstable immediately and the -1 to strenuous activity, but still suffers the reduction of her perceptions and innate abilities.

One Note Curses

This is the silver bullet. Where the curse really only seems to have a very simple narrative impact. Honestly, this might be what the player wants instead of having more unpredictable curses. That's fine. In this case, start thinking of the Luck determining how likely the vulnerability is going to make an appearance.

However, you might still use expanded application. Perhaps the werewolf meets someone wearing a silver necklace and they very clearly fingering it while making smug expressions at the hunter. This could be a case of this person trying to intimidate the hunter by letting them know that they're aware of what the hunter is and that they're ready for them. This could be a reason to give a -1 ongoing or at least push for an Act Under Pressure roll.

I'll also point to the scene from Dracula Untold where the last fight happens in a tent filled up with silver coins making it hard for Dracula to even see straight. Another option might be that silver can be used as the basis for an enchantment that actively inhibits werewolves (or vampires as seen above).

Morality Impacting Curses

Curses like Feed and Pure Drive can all have implications about the Monstrous being pushed into performing tasks that they (and possibly the player) would not normally do. This is a case where you do want to ongoing discussion with the hunter about their lines and veils.

Generally, players that take this curse are going to take it knowing the risks. But they might still not want to see their character kill children, innocents, or allies. However if the player knows that you agreed not to kill past their lines, the character doesn't know that person they vaguely remember murdering was a mugger or domestic abuser. If someone that meets a line angers someone with Pure Drive (Rage) then they'll have enough presence of mind to leave until they find someone or something that the player is fine with being destroyed.

They'll still have to deal with the aftermath of such things. Like other monster hunters or police, for instance.

Even once you've set your lines, some escalation is going to occur. Don't go straight to murder, vigilante or otherwise, but build up to it. Let's start with a version of Feed that is definitely something lethal: hearts. Again, following how much Luck is left.

7: You can buy hearts from the butchers and cook them.

6: You can't cook the hearts anymore.

5: It needs to be a human heart or you must kill the animal yourself.

4: It takes more animals to equal one human heart.

3: It needs to be a sapient heart or a supernatural one.

2: You need to feed more often or larger numbers. Or from more powerful monsters.

1: You need to frequently gorge on large numbers. Or hunt even more powerful creatures.

0: The hunger never goes away.

As a note, starvation might be an option with Feed. Talk to your hunter and decide what the consequences for not feeding are. Does the hunter starve to death? Or do they just go feral and seek food without thought? I'll point to the horror anime Shiki where one of the vampires is very willing to let herself starve to death rather than hurt any humans.

Something like a Big Magic ritual might also be used to create something that will feed a monster. Also the Good Monsters playbook provides an asset that allows a Monstrous a facility that manages their curse for them. In one of my theoreticals, a lamia had a horrific alchemical tree that grew human hearts. In this case, they will become dependent upon that one source of their necessary object of consumption. It might be destroyed, poisoned, or they might have to spend an extended amount of time away from it.

Now on to Pure Drive. Note I would always allow an Act Under Pressure to opt for a lesser consequence... or accept a good work around from a player.

7: You have enough control that when you slip it's relatively minor but still disruptive. You'll likely even find a way to fit it into your hunting or other current goal.

6-5: It gets more disruptive. Either you'll have to do something more intense and harder to shoehorn into they're current goals, go out of their way to satisfy the urge, or you'll do something minor to someone you don't mean.

4: The urge starts putting you into danger.

3-1: Fulfilling the urge makes you increasingly reckless and disregard more morality.

0: The Keeper can bring the Curse up without any other provocation.

Corollary

Dark Master, Obligation, and Duty will run into similar issues as Pure Drive and Feed as the hunter has an outside force occasionally influence. For example, consider the link above under Feed one of the other characters in that theoretical group was a mothlady who had a duty as an oracle which she manages by running a psychic hotline. However, as her luck goes down, she may start getting visions about random people she meets on the street. Then she might be struck by an urge to tell what she sees to these people. Finally, she might receive a vision of something major and drawn to the place it would happen and spend effort trying to warn everyone there.

With Dark Master, you might not be directly influenced or even commanded by the master, but they might see you as their minion anyway. They might present as a frequent nemesis interferring in your plans, demanding service, or even trying to kill you for disobedience.

With Obligation, you're going to be faced with increasingly more dangerous past deals you've made. Starting with an agreement not to interfere with what happens in a certain place all way up to having given at one point in your past a carte blanche favor that has now come due.

Discuss whether the hunter is under any mental or metaphysical influence with these curses. The mothlady was, one of the vampires in the vampire post linked at the start wasn't. If they're not forced to obey, then the aftermath of the deal, command, or duty is where things will come out.

Adding more Curses

You might also look to the hunter's Breed as the curse rather than just the individual symptoms. In this case start adding on other effects that fit. For example, perhaps the werewolf also starts developing an aversion to wolfsbane or vampire starts picking up OCD behaviors. This is probably the most touchy since there's probably every reason the hunter didn't choose other weaknesses in place of the one they chose. If they are good with this, tie it in to the original such as how wolfsbane is still a vulnerability. But you can expand it to things like a physical changes that betray their true nature. Pointed ears, lack of reflection, extra hairy... a sense of something sparkling in the air like fairy dust. Etc.

One final thing: note that getting rid of their curse does not necessarily mean they get rid of their powers.

[brianwilder]

Understanding Pests and Fungus: Insights from Wellington Garden Club’s Talk on Tree and Turf Health

The Wellington Garden Club (WGC) is set to host an insightful meeting on September 9, 2024, at the Wellington Community Center. The event will feature a presentation by Mike Sands, a certified horticulturist and Master Naturalist with extensive experience in horticulture. This session promises to shed light on the crucial topics of pests and fungus that commonly affect trees and turfs.

Expert Speaker: Mike Sands

Mike Sands is a highly respected figure in the field of horticulture, bringing over two decades of expertise to his role. Currently serving as the head horticulturalist and spray technician for the Village of Wellington, Mike holds multiple state licenses in various categories, including ornamental and turf, right-of-way, aquatic, and natural area management. His deep knowledge and practical experience make him an invaluable resource for understanding and managing garden health.

Focus of the Presentation

Mike’s presentation will cover the following key areas:

Mike Sands’ Background

In addition to his role with the Village of Wellington, Mike is affiliated with Tangled Roots Orchid Nursery in Loxahatchee, where he specializes in bifoliate Cattleyas—orchids that are often misunderstood. The nursery is known for its innovative use of 3D-printed biodegradable pots and a newly developed line of fertilizers. Mike’s broad expertise also includes his past read more

[ellethespaceunicorn-masterlist]

Henry Cavill Masterlist

Here you will find all of my Henry Cavill works, arranged by character and type of work.

One-Shots

Forever And A Day - Explicit - Geralt x Black!OFC - Geralt and Lavinia share a passionate reunion.

Events

You're Mine | Geralt of Rivia + Female Reader + Daddy Kink + “Can you feel how much I want you?” + Darkfic (Sweet Treats Events 2024)

Series

Bright Like The Moon (ongoing)

Touch and Go (possibly ongoing)

The Howling in Claw Creek Forest (ongoing)

Requests

Get My Pretty Name Outta Your Mouth - Explicit - Walter Marshall x Reader - You hate everything about Detective Walter Marshall. He feels the same about you. Now, kiss!

Challenges

Fifteen Minutes - Explicit - Walter Marshall x Unnamed Black!OFC - What Walter does with 15 minutes of his time.

Headcanons

Hobbies

Events

A Little Fresh Air | Walter Marshall + Female Reader + Public Sex + “Hmm, you’re not very patient, are you?” + Smut (Sweet Treats Event 2024)

One-Shots

Hold Me Til I Scream For Air To Breathe - Explicit - Sub!Clark Kent x Domme!Reader - Clark needs to give over to his submissive urges, specifically he yearns to be tied up and owned.

Some Things You Just Can’t Refuse - Explicit - Dom!Clark Kent x Sub!Reader - A collection of first times with Clark Kent, and one last time.

Don’t Kill My Vibe - Explicit - Clark Kent x BestFriend!Black!Fem!Reader - You help Clark ease the pain of his broken heart.

Requests

Happy Birthday, Cupcake - General - Clark Kent x PlusSize!Reader - Clark surprises you for your birthday.

Praise You - General - Clark Kent x Insecure PlusSize!Reader - Clark Kent loves everything about you, especially what you think are your flaws.

One-Shots

What Are You Doing, StepBro? - Explicit - Humphrey x Stepsister!Reader - You and Humphrey don’t have the best start, but before long you will reach an arrangement.

Requests

Doing Something Unholy - Explicit - Charles Brandon x Reader - This is a prompt fill for some teasing of Charles Brandon and then him taking over.

Series

Scrapbook (finished) - Side characters include Walter Marshall, Evan Marshall, Syverson, and Gus March-Phillipps

One-Shots

Make That Kitty Purr {DARK FIC} - Explicit - Mike x Reader, August Walker x Reader - Hellraiser: Hellworld x Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Crossover AU - Uncle August doesn’t give a shit that you’re Mike’s girlfriend.

Make That Kitty Purr [Director’s Cut] {DARKER FIC} - Explicit - Mike x Reader, August Walker x Reader - Hellraiser: Hellworld x Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Crossover AU - Uncle August doesn’t give a shit that you’re Mike’s girlfriend. This is the darker pre-edited version.

Series

Love, Napoleon (ongoing)

One-Shots

I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl - Explicit - Napoleon Solo x Reader - Napoleon wines and dines.

Series

Daddy Knows Best (possibly on hiatus)

One-Shots

Make That Kitty Purr {DARK FIC} - Explicit - Mike x Reader, August Walker x Reader - Hellraiser: Hellworld x Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Crossover AU - Uncle August doesn’t give a shit that you’re Mike’s girlfriend.

Make That Kitty Purr [Director’s Cut] {DARKER FIC} - Explicit - Mike x Reader, August Walker x Reader - Hellraiser: Hellworld x Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Crossover AU - Uncle August doesn’t give a shit that you’re Mike’s girlfriend. This is the darker pre-edited version.

Treat Me Like A Slut - Explicit - August Walker x Reader - August has had enough of your antics, and you’re going to pay for it.

Requests

Executive Temptation - Explicit - CEO!August Walker x Employee!Reader - You’ve caught the eye of CEO August Walker. What happens when he asks you to go to his private office?

One-Shots

Sometimes The Silence Guides A Mind - Explicit - Sherlock Holmes x Reader - As you were getting close to Sherlock, he stops visiting. You pop over to Baker Street and share an eye-opening moment.

Requests

The Paganini Problem - Mature - Sherlock Holmes x Wife!Reader - Being Sherlock’s wife proves to be difficult when a case stumps him.

Series

The Howling in Claw Creek Forest (ongoing)

Challenges

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - Mature - Syverson x Reader - When an unexpected pregnancy rocks your already uncertain world, you decide the best option is to run. Apocalypse AU.

Requests

Shape-Up - Explicit - Syverson x Black!Reader (Peaches) - Syverson and his girl, Peaches, try and trim his beard without causing a ruckus. Spoiler alert: they fail.

Drabbles

My Little Strawberry - Mature - Syverson x Black!Reader (Peaches) - A follow-up to Shape Up. Sy has a conversation with his baby girl while she’s still in your stomach. 

Events

Say It Again | Captain Syverson + Female Reader + Phone Sex + “Hmm, you’re not very patient, are you?” + Smut (Sweet Treats Event 2024)

One-Shots

Nothing More Than An Animal - Explicit - Henry!Wolverine (Cavillrine) x Female!Reader - After entering a dangerous biker bar alone, you’re almost assaulted. You are saved by a mutant with metal claws who might be more animal than man.

Walter Marshall (Night Hunter)

Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher)

Clark Kent (Man of Steel, BvS, Justice League)

Humphrey (Stardust)

Charles Brandon (The Tudors)

Mike (Hellraiser: Hellworld)

Napoleon Solo (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.)

August Walker (Mission: Impossible - Fallout)

Gus March-Phillips (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare)

Will Shaw (The Cold Light of Day)

Sherlock Holmes (Enola Holmes films)

Captain Syverson (Sand Castle)

Evan Marshall (Blood Creek)

Melot (Tristan and Isolde)

Thomas Apreas (Hotel Laguna)

Chas Quilter (The Inspector Lyndley Mysteries)

Stephen Colley (I Capture the Castle)

Henry!Wolvie AKA The Cavillrine (Deadpool & Wolverine)

I DO NOT WRITE RPF FOR HENRY

FULL MASTERLIST IS HERE.

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[missmouse43]

idk if you’ve seen the bts of the pogues “running away” in a boat but mike seems to be in that scene of the pogues on the sheriff boat where it looks like they’re hiding/escaping the police and mike is standing with all the police that are watching them on land, that’s from part 2 when they’re wearing their outfits that they wear in morocco

Yup. And that’s Anna in the back wearing red pointing at them as well. Mike is definitely yelling at JJ here, who I’m assuming is still wanted by the police for getting involved with the riots and vandalizing the town. Stealing a police boat probably didn’t help his situation either 🙂‍↕️

This is also when JJ shoots off that flare thingy to cause a distraction for the pogues to escape. I could see this being a moment where Mike is trying to convince JJ to turn himself in by warning him with something like “You’re going to get my daughter killed” cuz that one cop definitely looks like he’s pointing a gun at them…

[androcola2]

every1 say Yay 70s mike

[craynekiller]

B&W Mike Schmidt Stimboard

[itisbop]

Some interesting things in the recent comic!

1. Chuck is a guard! I thought he was doing his own thing separate from the bizarre.

2. As much as I hate Edgar because he pisses me off when I fight against him, he seems a little kind to people (it's probably just for the apple pie though).

(While I'm here, does anyone have any ideas on how exactly to redesign because I can't keep the aspect of him being a thief and need to choose something else-)

4. Chuck isn't bald! Very interesting. 🤔

And of course 5.

Mortuck shippers, you are EATING with this one.

[thryth-gaming]

Huntober 2024

This idea came up in conversation on one of the Monster of the Week discord servers and I worked this up and have started to do it.

I'll include links to the individual entries below as I go.

My general rules for myself:

I'm making Hero Forge minis ahead of time while thinking of general themes.

I'm doing a mystery and a hunter for whom that mystery could have been an origin story.

I'm taking about an hour to do the hunter and mystery, which means the mystery is bare bones and will often lack mechanics. I'm focusing on cast descriptions and Countdown.

Monster of the Week News

Yes I made the title there a link!

The game has two new supplements on the way and I'm a co-author on both of them. These books both focus on Hunters providing hunter-centric arcs, new hunter and teams playbooks, and advice on gameplay and homebrewing.

The Entries:

1: Nightmares

2: Schools (CW: Suicide)

3: Darkness

4: Cheer (CW: School killings, police brutality, mental illness)

5: Nature

6: City

7: Redemption

8: Transformation (CW: Religious Trauma)

9: Itchy (CW: Body Horror)

10: Bugs

11: Magic (very bare bones, more of a seed than a draft)

12: Science

13: Stars

14: Courage

15: Luck

16: Rural

17: Spirits

18: Storm (CW: Bigotry)

19: Light

20: Grief

21: Creation

22: Ancient (CW: Spiders)

23: Fear

24: Retail

25: Dragon

26: History

27: Disaster

28: Modern

29: Vengeance

30: Secrets

31: Ritual

Hero Forge Minis

(if you find the original posting, then only the first 29 Hero Minis are shown due to limits on Tumblr image attachments)

For the Last two images go here.

Jamie el-Murad - The Spooky (Nightmares)

Megan Cote - The Divine (Schools)

Tartok Kise - The Changeling (Darkness)

Betty Kates - The Wronged (Cheer)

Erik Weathasea - The Mundane (Nature)

Amber Mekonen - The Professional (City)

Kiera Nieves - The Chosen (Redemption)

Róisín MacTiernan - The Flake (Transformation)

Milo Boyd - The Host (Itchy)

Bunny Stevens - The Crooked (Bugs)

Azalea Burns - The Spooktacular (Magic)

Kerry Knight - The Action Scientist (Science)

Z'ivhos - The Visitor (Stars)

Haiden Bates - The Meddling Kid (Courage)

Walter Lynn - The Snoop (Luck)

Kumiko Vlahalli - The Covenant (Rural)

Emma Terreal - The Hex (Spirits)

Noel Bara - The Spell-Slinger (Storm)

Darmont Shale - The Initiate (Light)

Maisy Fisher - The Gumshoe (Grief)

Glory of the Forgotten - The Forged (Creation)

Mercedes Kerr (and The Morrow) - The Pararomantic (Ancient)

Ewa Bagan - The Monstrous (Fear)

Luca Reyes - The Envoy (Retail)

Corranth - The Summoned (Dragon)

Reginlief Bodvardottir - The Exile (History)

Silver Bishop - The Celebrity (Disaster)

Zahra Dines - The Interface (Modern)

Four - The Hard Case (Vengeance)

For the Last two images go here

[soupy-sez]

Beastie Boys – She's On It (1985) [X]

[sand-tower]

Okay okay okay hear me out : dbd x breaking bad. Crossover of the century.

Walt is the killer but he swears he's a survivor who just HAS to kill them y'know for survival and all of that

Where is mike you are asking ? Well he's sleeping very well he's resting and the entity won't take the chance to wake him up

[domsunny2016]

Say something

[viking-raider]

Viking-Raider Holiday Fics!

I know it's the day before Halloween XD However, I've started work on my Christmas story. This story has been bubbling in my mind for a couple weeks, esp after @winter2112rose and I spoke about holiday fics and she gave me such a great idea for it. I've also finally gotten some energy to write after just being drained by life.

I'm also contemplating a Thanksgiving holiday fic. I know, Henry being a Brit, he doesn't typically celebrate the holiday. Though, he did once or twice in the past for funnies, because Kal's an American Akita. (Silly Boy) I thought of doing it for one of his American characters!

Who do you think I should do it for?

[moratoirenoir]

[simulacra-x-simulation]

“Karen and Max” - Mike Figgis

One Night Stand (1997)

[thryth-gaming]

My "Home" Games

So, I've since realized this term is a bit confusing because it has since been used to differentiate on-camera Actual Plays from private games. But I started using it because I was unsatisfied with the typical concept of the "favorite" game.

Basically, I have four games that I will always return to if given a chance. These are:

Fate Core

Scion 2e (Storypath)

City of Mist

Monster of the Week

I really can't choose between these four games as to which I enjoy more. However, some people may have noticed that I don't recommend them equally. So here's why Monster of the Week is the game I recommend the most.

Fate Core

Fate Core is one of the more recent variations of the Fate system which descended from FUDGE and first appeared in specific games like Spirit of the Century or Dresden Files RPG. It is a narrative game and uses the Aspects from FUDGE, a mechanic which has influenced a lot of narrative games ever since. It can and has been adjusted to hit a large number of genres with a large collection of much varied official release content, the majority of which is available Pay-What-You-Want, and a very easy to work with open license for making third party material.

However, Fate Core is very much a toolkit system. This means that the base rules are meant to be modded so that you can hit the exact gameplay flavor you're hoping for. This means that a GM will be faced with making a fair amount of homebrewing mechanics to match desired narrative. That mentioned vast library of sample worlds does help as you can borrow mechanics from any of a number of existing world books to make your world, but it still requires some work.

On top of this, as one of the earlier narrative games, it has some rough spots in mechanics and, most glaringly, a lot of tables struggle with getting the Fate Point economy flowing at just the right level. This can cause the game to underperform. This is because the metacurrency of Fate Points generally requires the GM and players to actively engage with it by experiencing problems as a result of the down side of their Aspects. A common story I've been told is that tables will just RP their negative aspects without being encouraged to, which is fine because the game allows for giving Fate Points for that, but forget that it is a thing they should get Fate Points for. More recent narrative games have answered this problem by including purely game play ways for the metacurrency to refill so it isn't entirely dependent on players and GMs remembering to do it.

So, that brings me to the following for Fate Core

Very low buy-in cost, most of the material can be purchased for low cost or gotten for free.

Lots of support and examples.

High flexibility

High GM campaign prep required (session prep is pretty easy though)

The mechanics takes a bit of a re-working some player's approaches to gaming.

Scion 2e

A roleplaying game where you can play a hero with a spark of divinity in a modern day setting where the supernatural is public and all myths are true, especially the contradictory ones. Yup, sign me up. I am always up for this genre of game play. You got a lots of cases of "Jus' Folks" supernaturals alongside the heroes and where magic is a simple part of life.

Also, the Storypath system is a great mix of narrative and tactical. It scratches my desire to do character builds and doesn't require me to perform absurd mathematical gymnastics in order to get exactly the flavor I want for my character. The stunt system is great and seems to take inspiration from Green Ronin's AGE game's stunt point mechanics, but the gem is Enhancements and Scale.

Enhancements range from +1 to +5, with +4 and +5 only possible to reach with supernatural abilities. These are bonus successes that only apply to your roll if you have rolled at least one success on the dice. This keeps the dice relevant, as compared to Scion 1e where eventually bonus successes reached a point that dice just didn't matter anymore. The cap on enhancements would keep the power bound within a certain power level if this wasn't then match with the Scale mechanic which allows the characters to be the demigod or superhero they're meant to be.

The default setting makes some assumptions about the world but also explains how you can adjust these to your desire. For example, I generally ignore the whole idea of the war between gods and titans. So this is neither a good nor bad bit.

The big downside to this game is that the financial buy-in to get into the game is pretty significant. At minimum to play the game you need both Origin and Hero to have all the basic rules you need to play the game at its best. You can play Origin for a good long while and have fun, but it has very limited advancement and scaling, so you're eventually going to want to move on to Hero. Demigod and God are significantly different gameplay feels and you may never end up reaching that level and still be fully satisfied, so you don't need those, but they do have extra Pantheons and ideas about the world setting.

Accompanying this is that the supplements of the game are rather hit and miss. Mysteries of the World, Saints and Monsters, Demigod, God, and Titanmachy are definitely worth a purpose. However, Dragon, Masks of the Mythos, and a few others are sort of middling. Dragon and Masks in particular feel over-engineered and fiddly.

High buy-in cost

Minimum 2 book requirement

Varying supplement quality

Variable gameplay flavor from social to combat

Amazing flavor

Excellent mix of narrative and tactical mechanics

City of Mist

City of Mist is a noir superhero game where you play people who are empowered by their connection with a story (or multiple stories in the case of one of my PCs). This Mythos has a desire to relive itself on an epic scale and will empower your character to do just that. For example, the Little Match Girl mythos will seek to relive her story of deprivation, delusion, and death by exposure and if not anchored by a human will, will spread this concept throughout all of society.

It is a game descended from Powered by the Apocalypse but the extent of its changes are such that I feel that it is its own thing. It still uses the 2d6, but where it uses Fate Aspect-like "tags" instead of the common range of usually 5 stats and the combination of four themebooks instead of a single playbook makes it incredibly different.

The themebook mechanics does make City of Mist perhaps the best mechanics for doing character development out of any game I have ever played. The themebooks are meant to grow in effectiveness and versatility but also to be lost and replaced, granting experience based on the strength of the replaced theme. This process has a pacing controlled almost entirely by the player with dice-based changes well sign-posted as risks so they will never come as a surprise. You can have your character change as much or as little, as fast or as slow as you want. There is also a built in reset option for characters that don't want to retire their character but do want to go back to an entirely fresh sheet.

In addition, the Iceberg approach to planning stories and campaigns is exceptional and it has some truly great advice on how to manage spotlight between players to make sure nobody is recommended. The publishers have also started to make other games based on this system but I do not believe there is an open license as of yet, so for now the only Written in the Mist games (yes, I just made that up) we're getting are going to com out of Son of Oak Games.

However, the mechanics are a bit intricate. In my opinion they are not over-designed or extraneous and move fluidly once you're used to them but they can take a bit of getting used to. Also, while it was originally a single book, the publisher found that it was too large a book to allow for efficient publishing so it was split into two books. This puts its financial buy-in at similar levels to Scion 2e. There are some supplements, Shadows and Showdowns is especially good providing new themebooks to use, but I believe most add setting elements, example cases, and example characters.

Somewhat high buy-in cost

Minimum two book requirement

Somewhat complex rules that do work well after a brief learning curve.

Excellent character development mechanics.

Such flavor.

Monster of the Week

Of the Powered by the Apocalypse games not created by the original designers of the system, Maguey and Vincent Baker, this is the game that most understands both the limits and strengths of the PbtA system. It is a very straightforward and simple systems that knows exactly what it is and what it is here to do. And this self-awareness has allowed it to grow in ways a lot of other PbtA games struggle to do so (without becoming something entirely different at least).

As long as a story fits within the framework of investigative action horror, Monster of the Week can do it. The playbooks represent story arcs for the character drawn from recognizable shows and books like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, Dresden Files, Evil Dead, Penny Dreadful, and even Scooby Doo.

The hunters are able and encouraged to borrow from other playbooks to fill out their personal character build and each move is also an element of the character's story.

To date, all of the supplements have been excellent, and I'm going to say that the new supplements co-authored by myself and Marek Golonka are set to fit that mold. Also, essentially, the supplements do not change the game to such a degree that they become absolutely necessary to playing the game the way some supplements have become in other's game (a certain witch's cauldron for instance). If the only book you own is the Monster of the Week corebook (I suggest the Hardcover edition as it includes some optional rules from Tome of Mysteries) you have everything you need for an excellent game.

I highly recommend each of the supplements but even once you have them, you won't always need Team playbooks and you won't always want to be playing in one of the other world settings of Codex of Worlds. If you get the Hardcover edition of the Corebook you'll already have a lot of the optional rules from Tome of Mysteries, but that book will still benefit you in the form of its more than 20 pre-made mysteries, several advice essays on running the game, and four hunter playbooks: The Searcher, The Hex, The Gumshoe, and The Pararomantic.

The downside of this game is that you're not always going to want to do investigative action horror as a game premise. If I want something that allows for slice of life, then Fate would be the best followed by Scion 2e and City of Mist. Similarly if I want the game to be more about supernatural politics than fighting monsters. The game CAN do politics and slice of life well, but once those become the central focus of a campaign you may want to switch to a different system.

Low to Average financial buy-in

Lots of support

Excellent supplements

Accessible rules

Really needs to be the specific genre of investigative action horror.