Systems & Characters

How to Make a Character for Monster of the Week

Updated December 8, 2026 · 3 min read · by the Dice Outpost crew

A Monster of the Week hunter takes about fifteen minutes: pick a playbook, circle a look, pick one of the pre-built stat lines, choose two or three moves off your sheet, grab gear, and then do the step that actually matters — history, where the team wires itself together. Everything is multiple choice. If you can order at a diner, you can build a hunter, and the diner will probably be in the campaign anyway.

Pick the playbook (the only big decision)

Each playbook is one complete character sheet with its own moves, gear lists, and personal drama built in. The classic spread, translated to television:

One playbook per table (no two Chosens), which is a feature: the drama comes from the archetypes colliding, exactly like the genre. Fight for the one you want. Politely.

Circle your choices

The rest is menus printed on the sheet. Pick a look from the suggested lists. Pick one of five pre-set stat lines (Charm, Cool, Sharp, Tough, Weird arranged for you; no point-buy, no array debates). Pick your starting moves; most playbooks give you one signature move automatically plus two choices, and every option is two sentences long.

Gear's a list too: the Wronged circles big weapons, the Expert circles the loaded station wagon. Ten minutes in, you have a complete, legal, playable hunter. The system's one mechanic means there's nothing else to compute.

Advice worth exactly what every MotW veteran will tell you: don't dodge your playbook's built-in problem. The Spooky's dark side and the Chosen's fate are the character; sanding them off leaves a stat line with a haircut.

History: the fifteen minutes that make the campaign

Last step, done together: each playbook lists history options, and you go around the table answering "how do I know you?" from the menu. The Expert trained someone. The Wronged saved someone's life, and it cost. The Flake has a file on you. You pick one per teammate, out loud, and the web of debts and suspicions becomes the team.

This step outperforms hours of backstory writing, because every connection points at another player instead of at a document. (It's the same trick as Daggerheart's connections and Blades' friends and rivals; story games figured this out and never looked back.) A team with good history plays like season three by episode one.

Then get to a table. Bring two d6s and, if you're the Flake, printouts. The Keeper will understand.

Frequently asked questions

How long does Monster of the Week character creation take?

Ten to fifteen minutes solo, thirty with the group history step included; a whole table goes from empty sheets to mid-mystery inside an hour. Everything on the sheet is multiple choice.

What's the best playbook for a first-time player?

The Mundane and the Wronged are the simplest to drive; the Expert suits players who like knowing things; the Chosen and Spooky carry the most built-in drama. There's no mechanical trap anywhere; pick by poster.

How do stats work in Monster of the Week?

Five ratings (Charm, Cool, Sharp, Tough, Weird) come in pre-built lines you pick from your playbook; each roll adds one of them to 2d6. Highest rating is a +2 or +3, and that's the entire math of the game.

Can two players use the same playbook?

Standard rule is no; each playbook is a unique protagonist slot, which keeps the archetypes distinct and the spotlight tidy. With seven-plus playbooks in the core book and more in supplements, tables rarely feel the pinch.

What happens if my hunter dies?

You grab a fresh playbook and join next mystery, usually inside the same session; the episodic structure makes cast changes painless. Luck points (each hunter's small pool) exist to spend before it comes to that, and running dry is its own dramatic signal.