Hello,
I wanted to share with you a cheat I used for a con game last weekend and it worked.
Step 0 - prep as usual but make the prep open enough to fit a large variety of Monsters (for example - hook is that people are vanishing, Monster will have a squad of Brutes and a Renfield as back up)
Step 1 - make playbook Wronged obligatory and don’t explain why it is obligatory
Step 2 - while introducing the character talk in depth about what happened to Wronged, who is responsible, get a name for them, ask for their powers and their weakness
Step 3 - Wronged pray is now The Monster in your game
Step 4 - if possible and with cooperation from other players let Wronged deal the killing blow to his pray
Possible problems:
- Wronged can be played by an inexperienced or very protective player in which case you might need to help him develop monster by providing options and/or adding some extra powers to it if the monster is vulnerable to everything. (in my game it did not happen, but I thought of it as possible problem).
- Since we are already throwing extra spotlight at Wronged, make sure that you give other character equal chances to shine during the game
Additional small cheats to bring game to the table faster:
- Narrow playbook selection - I usually leave out playbooks that have a lot of baggage like secret organisations (Initiate, Professional) or that are very magical in nature (Spell singer, Divine). I guess a good rule of thumb might be to have either Initiate or Professional as a envoy with other PCs working for said organisation.
- Make default choices for the playbooks - I usually pre-select moves, stats and gear, so that later I can make sure to give opportunities to trigger those moves and also I tell them that if they want they can change what’s selected, it’s just a default.