The world’s a lot scarier than you think it is. Not only are there the horrors you know about… politics, war, poverty, racism… but there are horrors you don’t know about. Literal monsters roam the world, either sent here for a reason or escaped from death, and it’s their job to stop it. Stop it, and keep it from reaching the public so that they can sleep easy at night not knowing that an Ogre could simply walk up and crush their skull in a single hand.
What is this?
This is a game known as Monster of the Week, a game that runs on the Powered by the Apocalypse engine and is based off of shows like Supernatural, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, the X-Files, and the MIB cartoon. I called it Boogieman Buddies because I could literally not think of a better name.
Okay. What’s Powered by the Apocalypse?
Powered by the Apocalypse is a pen and paper RPG system based around the entire table, not just the guy running the game, telling a cool narrative story. It’s very simple to play: You have stats, those stats have modifiers ranging from -1 to +3. You roll 2 six sided dice and add (or subtract) your modifier and the result falls into three ranges: six or less is a failure, ten or more is a total success, and 7 through 9 is a mixed success.
Why Baltimore?
They say “write what you know”, and I’ve been a Maryland resident my entire life. While the plan is to take them all over the state sometimes, most of the time they’ll be staying in the holy trashfire that is Baltimore, mostly because it’s big and recognizable.
Who’s who?
I, Colin “kalonZombie” am playing the role of the Keeper, the Keeper being the fancy title they give to the GM. I’m playing all the other people these doofuses aren’t.
Ape is playing Agent Blake Cooper, the Professional. The Professional is a base class that’s all about hunting monsters for a paycheck, and using their connections to their monster hunting agency to help them. As of Session 17, he plays the Initiate, a class combining weapons and magic as they hunt down monsters for their secret order.
Great Joe is playing Jorgen Palsson, the Exile. The Exile is an expanded class about being placed out of time, somehow, but as a result you’re great at swordfighting and maybe knowing some things about monsters that the others don’t due to knowledge being lost to time. As of session 31, he plays as The Hard Case, a hunter class specifically designed to just go to town on monsters. Whole hog ruin their day.
NonEuclideanCat is playing Amber Williams, the Big Game Hunter. The Big Game Hunter is an expanded class about hunting down monsters like some rich assholes hunt down Elephants and Lions and such. It’s… problematic as written, but we’re choosing to ignore the bad bits. As of session 27 they play the Spooky, a hunter possessed by a ghost and powered by Bad Vibes to do powerful magic. As of session 41, they play the Wronged, a hunter who has lost a loved one due to monsters, so they dedicate themselves to hunting them.
Torpid Typist playing as Ahab, the Summoned. The summoned is all about playing a monster who has been summoned to this world and is said to bring about the apocalypse. Strong, yes. Dangerous, yes. Can fit in easily? Not so much.
Sir Axolotl playing as Anna, the Mad Scientist. The Mad Scientist is all about being… well… a mad scientist. Able to invent things on the fly, and also occasionally working with demons. It’s fine. Trust me.
Scruffy playing as The Mask of Amontillado, the Luchador. The Luchador is all about making your own special move and beating monsters to death with it. And yes, TMoA is a heel. Why wouldn’t they be?
Episodes
Session 0 - Rolling Characters and Pre-Game Chatter HONESTLY YOU CAN SKIP THIS ONE WE JUST EXPLAIN A LITTLE ABOUT THE CHARACTERS AND THE WORLD AND HOW THE GAME WORKS
Session 1 - Welcome to Baltimore
Session 2 - Hunting
Session 3 - The Baltimore National Aquarium
Session 4 - Hard Calls
Session 5 - Other Worlds
Session 6 - DreamVizionz
Session 7 - Oops! Technical Issues
Session 8 - Bad Luck
Session 9 - Week Off
Session 10 - Bike Week
Session 11 - Stick to the Shadows
Session 12 - Under the Boardwalk
Session 13 - Downtime
Session 14 - Dumpster Diving
Session 15 - Calling In Some Backup
Session 16 - Your Cool Uncle
Session 17 - Axehole
Session 18 - Bowie
Session 19 - The Gang vs. the DHEA
Session 20 - First Encounters
Session 21 - Leakin Park
Session 22 - The Coven
Session 23 - Laser Tag
Session 24 - Subject NJ-1909-Q7R
Session 25 - The Battle of the Bands
Session 26 - November 2018
Session 27 - December 2018
Session 28 - Rockville
Session 29 - Failed Negotiations
Session 30 - The Snallygaster and the Dwayyo
Session 31 - Bromance
Session 32 - Enemy Stand
Session 33 - Materials Gathering
Session 34 - So No Chi No Sadame
Session 35 - Blood Sausages
Session 36 - John’s Hopkins Medical Center
Session 37 - Hospital Hunt
Session 38 - The Calm
Session 39 - Burkittsville
Session 40 - Forest Fight
Session 41 - The Storm
Session 42 - Hospital Heist
Session 43 - Braindiving
Session 44 - Do You Feel That Breeze?
Session 45 - 1815
Session 46 - Kitchen
Session 47 - Negotiations
Session 48 - The Battle for Baltimore
Session 49 - The Quiet End of Things
Session 50 - Epilogue
The Salem Crew Episodes
The Salem Crew 1 - Grumbungus
The Salem Crew 2 - The Sanders Daughters
The Salem Crew 3 - Cupid
The Salem Crew 4 - The Naughty List
The Salem Crew 5 - The Nice List
The Salem Crew 6 - Stunklette
The Salem Crew 7 - Abstinence 2: Lack-A-Fuckaloo
The Salem Crew 8 - The Newport Fisherman’s Club
The Salem Crew 9 - The Ritual of Arkenthall
The Salem Crew 10 - Ssentheloth