"Catching 'em all" isn't really the goal here.
FOR THE EIGHTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FIVE,
EIGHT MONSTERS WRANGLIN'
SEVEN LAWS A-SCOFFIN'
SIX GEESE A -HONKIN',
GIRL BY MOONLIGHT,
FOUR ELDER GODS,
THREE FRENCHIN' HENS
TWO CORVID COURTS,
AND CAIRN FROM THE O-S-R!
The Game: Monster Wrangler
The Publisher: Blackout Games
Degree of Familiarity: The system is pretty reminiscent of one I know well, but otherwise none
Books Required: Just the one
My friend Amanda pointed out that, in the song, it's never specified what the eight maids are milking, so here we are.
Monster Wrangler is, as is probably obvious, "Pokemon-knockoff the RPG." Rather, it seems to be. My exposure to Pokemon is limited - I played Pokemon Go! when it was first released and it became a way to be sociable while still social distancing (fuck me, I never thought I'd look back on 2020 fondly), but I don't really know the lore, so I don't know how closely this game resembles it. I do note that Blackout Games hasn't been sued out of existence by a notoriously litigious company, however, so there must be some difference (or else Blackout is too small to bother with).
Blackout Games, incidentally, also brought us Madhouse, for which I made a character some time back. I wasn't real enthused about that one. I had higher hopes for Monster Wrangler. It was actually a game I read thinking I might pitch it to a group, but I put it down because I wound up with some concerns.
To wit: The game is largely based, mechanically, around pitting your pet monster(s) against other monsters in combat. There are rules for easy healing, so that's nice, but I know my players, and "harm to pets" is one of our common lines. A whole game around what is basically dogfighting with fantastical monsters wouldn't be an easy sell.
Now, with a group that was a little more willing to explore or gloss over that angle? I think it would be kind of fun. The setting is well-explained and interesting, there's a great variety of monsters with their own personalities and ecologies, and having played Monsters and Other Childish Things and Predation, I know how much fun a game in which you have your own personal pet "monster" can be.
The game system here is basically OWoD second edition; roll a d10 dice pool, variable target number, count successes. It'd be easy enough to run, I think. I dunno, maybe we'll give it a whirl someday and focus more on exploration and monster wrangling than monster fighting, although that minimizes a lot of the rules.
For the moment, let's make a character!
Step One: Concept & Gain XP. I actually do kind of have a concept. The book goes into the history of the Chosu Region (but not in such exhaustive detail that I couldn't finish it over a cup of coffee), and describes the nations that currently make it up. One of those, Arensa, produces movies - it's basically the Hollywood of this world. I want my character to be a young actor who starred in what was supposed to be a series of films, and then dropped out to be a monster Wrangler. So what happened?
Well, Obsidian ("Sid," to his friends and fans) was the star of a film called Majuul: The Beginning. See, without going into too much detail, the nations used to be all part of the Majuul Empire, which then fell and fragmented. One of the reasons it did so was because they attacked a nation that used monsters, and said monsters kinda handed the Imperial troops their lunch (there's a lot more to it, but that's the important bit for my purposes). So this movie was supposed to chronicle the development of the Empire, and the execs figured that the first movie or two, being set before the advent of Wranglers, didn't need a lot of monsters on set - cheaper!
The movie...kinda flopped. Turns out people like monsters in their movies (also the script was weak and the director got replaced halfway through). Sid, who at the time was using his birth name of Sidnathy, took the movie flopping kinda hard. Since the movie didn't make its money back, he could back out of his contract, and he did.
Sid went out to the country house that his parents had bought with his advance money, and wound up finding a Vamyoru that had been injured. He nursed it back to health and bonded with it, and decided that he didn't want to go back to movies - not when he could follow his inclination towards dark clothes, dark poetry, and a blood-drinking monster buddy!
(Yes, Sid went a little goth. Give him a break, it's better than a lot of child stars do.)
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| This is a Vamyoru, by the way |
OK, good enough for concept! I get 30 XP, which I can spend during chargen, so...yeah, I have that.
Step Two: Choose Abilities. Abilities are broken down into Classes and then further into Basic/Expert/Advanced. I need to pick a Class, for which I get the Signature Ability, and then I can take another Ability from that Class or a different Class. Let's see.
Well, I think the Class that makes the most sense of Sid is Trainer, because he's really doing this for its own sake. I get Command: Call Out, which lets me make a monster I control use a Technique. That's fine. Is there a "pose for the camera" Ability? Not really. How about Command: Pounce? That seems pretty useful.
Step Three: Perks & Flaws. Standard arrangement. Perks cost XP, Flaws give you XP. Can't have more than three of each.
Well, looking at Perks, I want Famous, obviously. Let's take Ally and say that Sid's Aunt Glaima was his "assistant" during filming; she's been making movies for a while but always on the technical side of things and never wanted anything from Sid or his fame. And finally, let's take Strong Voice (Sid took classes). All together, these cost me 5XP.
Flaws, then? Oh, let's take Gullible (though in Sid's case, "Sheltered" might be closer to the truth). Let's take Overprotective (if a monster I control becomes Bloodied, I have to make a Mind roll or stop the fight), and Rumormonger (like all actors, Sid is a gossip). That gives me 6XP total back, so I'm ahead by 1.
Step Four: Purchase Skills. I get a big fat 0 in all Skills, but I can buy them 1-for-1 with XP.
Well, Athletics is always a good bet. I think one level of Archery and Brawl would be good; figure that was on-set training. Obviously I need Perform, and Persuade makes sense. So does Subterfuge, although being Gullible maybe I don't need that. I do want a point in Monster Lore, though. Oh, and obviously Knowledge: History, given the subject matter of the movie.
So let's say:
Archery 1
Athletics 2
Brawl 1
Knowledge: History 2
Monster Lore 1
Perform 4
Persuade 3
Scrutiny 1
Wrangle 1
That's 16 total. 15 left.
Step Five: Attributes. I start with 2 ranks in each one, and then they cost [new rank x 2] with XP to raise. I feel like I should raise Energy (force of personality); going to 3 would cost 6. Anything else? Yeah, let's say Sid's a good study and learns his lines, and spend another 6 to raise Mind to 3.
Step Six: Calculate Combat Attributes. These are based on my Attributes, so:
Defense is equal to Speed (2).
Willpower is equal to Mind (3).
Armor is 0 unless I buy some.
Health is equal to 2 + (Vitality x 2), or 6.
Movement is 25'. Size is Small. Bonded Limit is 3 (so I can have three monster buddies before they start getting persnickety).
Step Seven: Equipment. Ugh. I have 50 onz (the currency of the world). Do I want to buy anything in particular? Eh. I hate shopping.
Step Eight: Monster. I already know I want a Vamyoru. He's a Juvenile, which makes him about 2'5" tall and about 30 pounds. I think Sid has a thick glove and a hood, so his Vamyoru can hand from his arm and snooze during the day. His monster's name is Hyde, named after one of the most feared generals of the Majuul Empire! Hyde's Personality is...ah, heck, we'll roll for it. "Wary." I'm good with that Hyde broke a wing when he was a baby and it's still a little weak, so he's a little cautious around new people and monsters.
Step Nine: Finalize Backstory. I've really got this about done, but I do have 3 more XP to spend. Let's dump it into Skills and buy two points of Stealth and one more of Scrutiny.
That's it! Sid is about 13. Dyes his hair black, wears blacks and greys, likes to pose with his leg bent at the knee and Hyde draped over it, absently stroking his head.
