Neighborhood Monster Watch! || Community-based hunter network

Creating your character

If you'd like to create your character before the session, I have a handy guide in the Discord server to make that process quick, simple, and fun. If you're creating your character at the beginning of the session, that's great! All I ask is that you either have a playbook picked out already, or use my personality quiz to have one picked for you. I have a collection of 28 different hunter playbooks to choose from, including the core game playbooks, expanded edition playbooks, some incredible fan-made playbooks, and a couple of my own homebrewed playbooks. To help narrow down those choices, I made this personality quiz to suggest a playbook based on how you're coming into this game. Copy-paste this link into your browser to try it! https://uquiz.com/VaGMYW If you end up not liking the character you've built, we can change it at any point! I have no problem with that and have done it with my players before to great effect. Feel free to message me here on SPG (or in the Discord once you join) and I'd be happy to help answer any questions about the character creation process.

Preparing for the session

By the time the session starts, you'll have access to your group's voice channel in the Discord server, which is where the sessions will take place. I require all my players communicate via microphone, and humbly request that players have a webcam on as well. Seeing my players' faces makes it easier for me to be attentive to everyone throughout the game, but the game can function properly without it if necessary. We use a virtual dice roller that everyone can access within the group call. No outside links or multiple tabs necessary! (We all share the same "table" and can see the 3D dice get rolled. It's very cute.)

What Devon Jade brings to the table

MUSIC: I use a soundtrack bot to play music in-session, and while I am very mindful of volume, each player can independently adjust the volume of their soundtrack at any time. COMBAT & ACTION: My combat is far more role-play based than it is tactical. Hunters make choices, and those choices effect the world of the story, which everyone then has to adapt to. This is true if your choice is to bum-rush a vampire or to sweet-talk an eye witness. At any given point, I am presenting you with a situation, establishing the stakes, and simply asking you what you'd like to do about it. You tell me what you do, and the dice tell us how it works out for you. CREATIVITY: I say "yes" to everything I possibly can. Be not afraid of your bonkers idea! We will find a way to make it work. I once had a player come into Session 1 as a sentient baseball bat and it was one of the greatest sessions I've ever run. I strive to provide an environment where you tell me HOW you are a hero and I fill in the blanks. The only time I ever rules-lawyer is if it'll make your idea even more interesting, but never to shoot it down. LORE: All sessions of "Monsters in the Mist" take place in the same universe, in the very same Misty Shore. If the Tuesday group blows up the oil refinery, it won't be there for the Friday group. If a monster got away from the Friday group, it may come back on Saturday. All players are welcome to "cross-over" into other group sessions given that there is available space and that you register for it through SPG. The Discord server has shared channels for establishing the universe's lore and keeping record of canon hunts; I implore you to look through the hunter logs for clues on how to defeat monsters!

Homebrew rules

At my table, we do "critical" rolls. Meaning: If you roll two sixes, a "natural 12," the best you could possibly get from two d6s, it works out as well as it possibly can. If you roll two ones, a "natural 2," the worst you could possibly get from two d6s, it goes as badly as it possibly can. I also have a homebrew "Montage" mechanic to help cover long periods of time without needing to get bogged down in details. Further leaning into the "TV" bit, I start sessions with a "cold open" to set the mood and get the players into a good headspace to be a badass monster hunter. Sometimes (if I'm feelin' nasty) I'll even invite the players to help role-play the victims in the cold open, allowing them to influence the direction the mystery goes!

How Devon Jade creates a safe table

Lines and Veils are clearly listed in our Discord server, and I will be continually updating them as players communicate their comforts/wants in our private messages. Anyone can update/adjust their Lines and Veils at any point, no questions asked. During sessions, anyone (including myself) is encouraged and welcome to "pause" for an immediate halt of gameplay, or to call for a "commercial break" to quickly find a story beat to stop at. Anyone can do this, NO QUESTIONS ASKED, except for "what do you need?" as far as the pause/break goes. After a session ends, we do a "recap" of sorts to round out the game experience, and then I like to check in with my players on how they're feeling about that session and the game at large. If a session ends on an intense note of any kind, I make sure to clear the air at the table and end the call itself on a light, positive, supportive note.