Lamplight: A 'Monster of the Week' Campaign

- T H E M E -

In 1861, the town of Little Lamplight, Oregon, was founded with the promise of community and wealth following suit. Its people were slaughtered and the town abandoned in less than a year.

The history of Little Lamplight is a short one, but in the ten months that it lasted, the town was plagued with events that would lead to the deaths of its inhabitants. Its meager existence is a footnote in the history of the Old West, with the one thing known by historians being that it was believed to be cursed. Nowadays - having dropped the 'Little' from its name - Lamplight, Oregon is now known as a Superfund site, its ground contaminated with chemicals and compounds that make it uninhabitable. Everything has been lost.

Over 150 years later, not too far away in the town of Stone's Throw, strange occurrences have been cropping up in increasing numbers. Though no one wants to believe superstition, creatures of undetermined make and origin have been taking unsuspecting victims. For what purpose remains to be seen. The only thing to be sure of is that you don't want it to be you.

And yet, this is only one of several layers of mystery to be uncovered, explained, and brought to conclusion. Just on the horizon lies a greater threat - one that aims to swallow up the region and plunge the rest of the world into chaos. 

The question is - who will take up the mantle and protect the people of Stone's Throw?

LAMPLIGHT is a horror campaign set within the Monster of the Week TTRPG system developed by Michael Sands. Players will each take on the role of a 'Hunter' and work together as a team to solve the mysteries occurring around the town of Stone's Throw, Oregon. Each Hunter has unique abilities and circumstances - no two Hunters will ever be the same. There's a lot to uncover here in Stone's Throw and the nearby areas - if you're willing to risk life and limb to find it. Keep your wits about you and learn to protect yourself.

But first - a primer.

Monster of the Week: The Basics

Monster of the Week is a system that focuses a lot less on complex mechanics and a lot more on narrative and pushing the story forward. However, your actions won't be without a bit of dice-rolling.

Moves

MOVES are actions your character performs that are outside of what a normal person can do, and these actions require dice rolls. To clarify, if your character were to open a door, they can do so without needing to roll. But if your character were to try opening a door while a dangerous creature was chasing them, this would qualify as a Move and would therefore require a dice roll. All actions that require a dice roll are categorized into the following Basic Moves:

HELP OUT - This is used to help another Hunter in their task. If the roll is successful, the Hunter you help out gets a bonus for their task.
INVESTIGATE A MYSTERY - This is used to help you find out what kind of threat you're dealing, what it's capable of, and what it might be planning. Actions under this Move might not be able to give you information flat-out, but they will get you closer to dispatching your threat.
KICK SOME ASS - This is used for when you want to... well... kick some ass. Melee and ranged attacks all fall under this move.
MANIPULATE SOMEONE - This is useful for when you want to get someone to do what you want. However, no one can be convinced without a reason, so make sure you've got a way to convince them. Sometimes, words alone just won't work.
PROTECT SOMEONE - When you want to protect someone and shield them from danger, this is the Move that does so.
READ A BAD SITUATION - This Move is used to work out what dangers are immediately threatening you. If you think you're about to walk into a trap, or you want to do some tactical analysis, this Move works best.
USE MAGIC - This is useful for when you want to cast any magic spells, perform rituals, or use enchanted objects. Magical attacks would fall under this Move.
ACT UNDER PRESSURE - This is a catchall Move for any dangerous and/or difficult actions that might not fit the other Moves.

All of these Moves have modifiers called Ratings. These Ratings are determined when you choose your Hunter and go through character creation.

The Hunters

Each player will take on the role of a Hunter. Each Hunter has unique circumstances and skills which might make them valuable in the field. We will be playing with the 2015 Revised version of Monster of the Week, which contains the following Hunter types:

THE CHOSEN - The Chosen: a once-ordinary person who discovered they have a special destiny, and who has been given the power to accomplish it. The Chosen is good in a fight, with some weird powers. E.g. Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
THE CROOKED - a criminal turned monster hunter, haunted by their past and enemies. The Crooked is good in social situations and has a lot of contacts. E.g. Anna Valmont from The Dresden Files, Peter Bishop from Fringe.
THE DIVINE - an agent of a higher power, with a mission to fulfill. The Divine is very tough and has been granted holy powers. E.g. Castiel from Supernatural; Michael Carpenter from The Dresden Files.
THE EXPERT - the hunter who knows all about monsters and magic. The Expert knows a lot of hidden secrets and how to find out more, and also has a well-supplied base to work from. E.g. Bobby Singer from Supernatural; Rupert Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
THE FLAKE - a conspiracy theorist. The Flake is great at finding things out and seeing how the events of separate mysteries are connected. E.g. Agent Mulder or the Lone Gunmen from The X-Files.
THE INITIATE - a member of an ancient monster-slaying Sect, trained to fight and use magic. The Initiate is good with magic, and their Sect provides help (and sometimes problems). E.g. The Wardens from The Dresden Files; Annelise from the Twenty Palaces series.
THE MONSTROUS - a monster fighting for the good guys. The Monstrous is very weird, and can have a variety of different powers based on what monster breed they are. E.g. Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel; Bill Compton from True Blood.
THE MUNDANE - just a normal regular person, especially good at dealing with regular people you meet and have to save, and at getting captured by monsters (which can be more useful than you might expect). E.g. Xander or Cordelia from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
THE PROFESSIONAL - you work for an agency that hunts monsters. The Professional is good in a fight, and a good team player. E.g. Riley and the Initiative from Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Olivia Dunham from Fringe.
THE SPELL-SLINGER - a trained wizard, wielding powerful magic in their crusade against evil. The Spell-slinger’s arcane training gives them an advantage when dealing with eldritch secrets. E.g. Harry Dresden from The Dresden Files; Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in the later seasons.
THE SPOOKY - has psychic or magical powers. These powers are strange and sinister... and not completely under the Spooky’s control. E.g. Sam Winchester from Supernatural; Willow from earlier seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
THE WRONGED - revenge-driven, and really tough. The Wronged is all about killing a specific breed of monster and protecting others as you do it. E.g. Dean and John Winchester from Supernatural.

In addition to the Basic Moves available to every player, each Hunter also has their own "Playbook Moves" unique to them. Hunter Playbooks and accompanying stats will be elaborated on more during character creation.

That's me. Hello.

THE KEEPER is this system's "dungeon master", if you will. My goal is to tell the story and put you in situations that you might need to get yourself out of. I will never roll any dice, but I will unfold the myriad situations before you and how they develop, based on your dice rolls. Unless the threat of death is present and looming, no failure that you roll will ever result in your character being killed. A bad situation might get worse, but there's always a way out.

To anchor your understanding of the campaign, it's less about the mystery and more about your characters - how they interact with the world, how they figure out the mysteries within, how they uncover the secrets that I've left lying within, and as the Keeper, I'm here to help make the story a great one for you. However, that all depends on your...

Dice Rolls

Every Move you make requires a dice roll. For this campaign, all you will be rolling are two six-sided (or d6) dice. Depending on the Move and the Rating that applies to it, the roll might be modified, but the important thing is the result for each move:

10+ - this is a full success. Whatever you try to do, you do it as intended with this result.
7-9 - this is a partial success. You succeed in your action, but it comes with a consequence.
2-6 - this is a failure or miss. When you roll this on your action, I get to make things worse for you. This could be an oncoming danger getting closer, a bit of harm dealt to your character, a missed opportunity for vital information, or even something further down the line that happens because of a particular failure, that you might not even remember until, unfortunately, you are... reminded.

Each Move has specific things that happen depending on the result you roll, so let's hope the dice will be in your favor.

Afterword

Everything discussed here will be further elaborated and expanded upon, once I find interest and players. I'm seeking a group of no less than 3 players and no more than 6 that are familiar with Casual and/or Advanced RP.

The official thread will go up two weeks from the minimum requisite amount of players needed for the campaign being found, so those of you who do express interest, make sure to be watchful.

Until then:

See you at the Dark Mile.

I like this system, and the options interest me. I've tried doing some research on MotW, and assume the specifics - as you said in the OP - will be elaborated on further after interest is shown. I like how this is driven more by character and story than a dozen skill checks and dice rolls.

In terms of characters, I'm torn between the Mundane (which sounds like it can be humorous), the Monstrous (which seems like it could have some character development potential), and the Professional (which, I dunno, sounds like it could be cool).@Raqueltrper

Yeah, there's more to talk about, like the gear you can acquire, Harm, Luck points, etc., but I'll wait until the campaign gains more interest before really diving into everything. When character creation comes up, I'll have a repository of fillable sheets for people to choose from. It'll be imperative you guys discuss with me and, potentially, each other what your possible choices are for your Hunter, just to make sure that no one else chooses the same Hunter. 

Lamplight: A 'Monster of the Week' Campaign

Ohm 𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 // 𝙽𝚞𝚖𝚋

Tally Dor Head in the clouds, but my gravity is centered.

Ohm 𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 // 𝙽𝚞𝚖𝚋

Raqueltrper

Ohm 𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 // 𝙽𝚞𝚖𝚋

PatientBean Hi, I'm Barbie. What's up?

Passable Writer Admirably Adequate

Tally Dor Head in the clouds, but my gravity is centered.

Ohm 𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 // 𝙽𝚞𝚖𝚋

Theyra

Ohm 𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 // 𝙽𝚞𝚖𝚋

Theyra

Ohm 𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 // 𝙽𝚞𝚖𝚋