City of Jerry vs Monster of the Week
Compare City of Jerry and Monster of the Week side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| City of Jerry | Monster of the Week | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Modern | Horror, Modern |
| Tags | Comedy, Fiction-First, Gonzo, Improvisation, Low-Prep, Mystery, Noir, Playbook-Driven, Random Tables, Rules-Light | Narrative, Beginner-Friendly, Investigation, Playbook-Driven, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Theater of the Mind |
| Core Mechanic | When an outcome is uncertain, roll a d12 plus Heal or Harm and read the result on a five-tier scale: 12+ is a Critical Success, 9–11 a Success, 5–8 a Mixed Success, 2–4 a Failure, and 1 or less a Critical Failure. Natural 12s and 1s are always critical. Good or Bad Luck adds d12s and keeps the highest or lowest result. | Roll 2d6 + stat. 10+ full success, 7–9 success with a cost, 6 or less the Keeper makes a move. Playbook moves trigger from fictional actions. Luck points turn failures into successes but never come back. |
| Dice | d12 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Low | Low |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | High | Very High |
| License | Made for Mischief Third-Party License | Generic Games Third Party License |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Made for Mischief Third-Party License | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $ | $$ |
| Publisher | Drimbus | Evil Hat Productions |
| Year | 2026 | 2023 |
| Best For | Groups who want low-prep noir mysteries with body-pun humor, player-created connections, and fast conflicts inside a human body. | Groups who want episodic monster-hunting adventures inspired by Buffy, Supernatural, and The X-Files: investigating mysteries, confronting creatures, and dealing with hunter drama. |
| Highlights | Challenges, combats, and conversations share a Conflict framework, so one procedure supports objectives, fights, and persuasion. Matching results on multiple Luck dice trigger the Twist table, turning stacked advantages or disadvantages into an unexpected complication or benefit. Five biological Roles provide curated Abilities and Traumas, giving each Agent a distinct way to help or harm Jerry. | Very easy to learn, mystery countdown gives the Keeper a clear prep framework, playbooks map directly to genre archetypes |
| Considerations | Agents choose from five biological Roles, so concepts outside the Immunization Task Force require reskinning. Each Wound adds a penalty, and a third Wound triggers a Death Roll, making dangerous conflicts costly. Investigations use general Challenge Counters rather than a clue or deduction subsystem, leaving evidence details to the Jerry Master. | No pre-written mysteries in the core book, limited mechanical depth for long campaigns, custom move design requires GM experience, monster creation guidelines are loose |