Monster of the Week vs Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Compare Monster of the Week and Werewolf: The Apocalypse side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Monster of the Week | Werewolf: The Apocalypse | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Horror, Modern, Fantasy |
| Tags | Narrative, Beginner-Friendly, Investigation, Playbook-Driven, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Theater of the Mind | Atmospheric, Base-Building, Character Building, Character-Driven, Corruption, Drama, Lore-Heavy, Strong GM Support, Superpowers, Urban Fantasy |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Build a d10 dice pool, usually from an Attribute plus a Skill. Each 6 or higher is a success, and meeting the Storyteller-set Difficulty wins. Each pair of 10s counts as four successes. Rage dice replace regular dice up to current Rage and can cause Brutal outcomes. |
| Dice | 2d6 | d10 dice pool |
| Complexity | Low | High |
| Accessibility | Medium | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Generic Games Third Party License | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | Commercial publishing allowed — Storytellers Vault |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Evil Hat Productions | Renegade Game Studios |
| Year | 2023 | 2023 |
| Languages | English, French, Spanish | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups who want episodic monster-hunting adventures inspired by Buffy, Supernatural, and The X-Files: investigating mysteries, confronting creatures, and dealing with hunter drama. | Groups who want long-form modern horror about shapeshifter packs defending communities from ecological and spiritual threats, with violent power constrained by moral and social consequences. |
| Highlights | Very easy to learn, mystery countdown gives the Keeper a clear prep framework, playbooks map directly to genre archetypes | Brutal outcomes can force destructive failures or add four successes to actions the Storyteller judges can benefit from Rage. Choosing a Garou form changes a character's capabilities, creating tactical and narrative options. Caerns give the pack an improvable spiritual home whose traits connect campaign advancement to territory and community. |
| Considerations | 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 | A Crinos-form Garou who did not kill in the previous turn must spend Willpower at the start of the next turn or enter frenzy, making the war form difficult to sustain outside violent scenes. Harano and Hauglosk can remove a Garou from play when despair or absolutism fills either track, making moral decline a campaign-level consequence. The game centers mature environmental and spiritual horror, including graphic violence and themes of exploitation and extremism that require deliberate table boundaries. |