Disclaimer: My name is in the credits of this book. I am listed under “Additional Editing/Proofreading” (complete with a hyphenated first name, ugh!). I have always admired Hex Games products for their exceptional editing (minus that hyphenating people’s name thing) in an industry where correct grammar, spelling, and layout is undervalued. When given the opportunity to proofread a few chapters on this project, I gladly volunteered. Before starting the actual review, let me begin by saying that the first three appendices of this book are among the best proofread materials you will find in a gaming product in the last few years. If you feel this disqualifies me from a fair and honest review, move along please.

Monster Force? What was this, I thought to myself, some kind of joke, like Ghostbusters? I admit I was very skeptical at first about M-Force: Monster Hunting in the 21st Century, a roleplaying game where players take on the roles of agents for a modern-day monster hunting organization.

I’ve always liked my monster hunters more gritty and on the fringe of society. Can you imagine the movie characters Seth and Richard Gecko in “From Dusk Till Dawn” or Edgar and Allen Frog from “The Lost Boys” ever saying “We’re from Monster Force”?

Despite my initial reaction, the game started to appeal to me. While reading through the book, the name M-Force didn’t sound so ridiculous. A public agency dealing with monster threats seemed almost plausible. Then I found the following statement on page 133 that brought everything together for me:

Don’t worry—If you present something with enough conviction, the players will buy it.

This quote is taken way out of context (it’s actually written about monster presentation), but I’ve come to think of it as Rule Number One at Hex Games. No matter how ridiculous their ideas may sound initially, they present them with such enthusiastic exuberance that it becomes contagious.

How much conviction are we talking about? How about running around town wearing the uniforms of a fictitious agency, having your picture taken and then published in the M-Force game book for all the world to see. That kind of conviction.

The Setting

In the world of M-Force, the monsters are real, and everybody actually knows about them. Still, they’re like real-life serial killers, nobody expects to have attended high school with one until looking him up in a yearbook years later. (True story!) “Sure, the giant monster Galaxikhan rampaged and leveled Carlton, California back in the 50’s, but that kind of thing would never happen here in Sheboygen” is the general attitude.

Letting everybody in on the secret of monsters’ existence helps establish a believable background. High body counts don’t have to turn into a running gag (think of the nationwide coverage and furor over the Maryland snipers versus Sunnydale High School losing half its graduating class). The government’s response can be “Let’s establish a bureaucracy to study and classify dangerous monsters” instead of “Let’s build a secret base, capture these monsters, and use them to create super-soldiers.”

The first seven chapters of the book detail the history and organization of M-Force.

This not-for-profit agency is structured along the lines of the Red Cross. Most of its agents are part-timers, wearing special beepers which may call them away from their regular lives and jobs to fight or investigate monster threats at a moment’s notice. Although only officially in existence since 1952, it can trace some of its lineage back to an ancient monster hunting order. I found the two sections on history to be very well done, with a nice sense that there are a lot more stories to tell.

The next five chapters detail the actual organization and structure of M-Force. Unfortunately, these sections are little too much like reading a company prospectus, tending toward dull and boring. Even reasonably interesting parts, like the garden at M-Force National Headquarters, left me thinking “What can I do with this in an actual game?” Still, having this level of detail does make M-Force seem more real.

Also, while the top personnel at M-Force appear to be universally hard-working, dedicated, and absolutely altruistic in their goals, it would have been nice to see a little more personality come through in their descriptions. For example, Adam Sekowsky, the Assistant Director of M-Force, is described as a “by the book” workaholic. In contrast, I would like to have read that he keeps a stuffed version of the giant monster, Galaxikhan, in his office. He’s had it since he was a kid. Upon receiving particular distressing news, he’s been known to lock himself in his office, sit behind his desk and hug the stuffed monster. Some have claimed they’ve heard him talking to the critter. No one wants to know if it talks back to him. After about 15 minutes, Sekowsky comes out of his office, usually with a great plan that saves the day.

The System

Chapters 8-13 deal with character creation and rules. M-Force builds upon the same basic system as found in Hex Games’ Quick Ass Game System (QAGS). It does add character design rules and skills.

Characters are defined by three main stats (Body, Brain, and Nerve) and three other categories (Job, Gimmick, and Weakness), all having numbers between 1 (worst) to 20 (best). Lumping all physical qualities into a single Body stat means those looking to design the strong but slow or fast but fragile fighter will have to rely on Weakness or Gimmicks to achieve the desired result.

M-Force, like QAGS, uses a twenty-sided die. Success requires rolling under the stat plus any applicable skill levels. However, a player will generally want to roll as high as possible while still rolling under their stat. In a task roll, for example, the gamemaster can set a difficulty rating the player must roll above while still rolling below their stat. Against an opponent, such as in combat, success requires rolling higher than your opponent, while still rolling below your stat. Damage is the difference between the two rolls plus any weapon damage bonuses, which is then subtracted from the character’s health points (generally equal to the Body stat). This method of die rolling can be a tricky at first during actual play (“Yes, I rolled a 2. No, wait a minute! That sucks.”) Also, roleplayers who like characters that are the unequaled experts in their field may find the M-Force system highly frustrating. It’s too easy for Joe Sixpack (stat 10) to smack the Master Swordsman (stat 18) upside the head with a lead pipe (rolling a 9 versus a 3, for example).

Although unpredictable in its results (I have a 13 skill, my opponent 11. Quick, what are my chances of successfully hitting him?), the system is simple, reasonably unique, and workable. As for the Master Swordsman’s complaints, in our real world, the greatest fighter ace in history was shot down by a Canadian whose name nobody remembers (Answer: Arthur “Roy” Brown).

The Yum-Yums

Other roleplaying games have bland names for them, like Fate points, Hero points, Drama points, Karma points, Ka points, Chi points, or Force points (although Superbabes does earn honorable mention for Bimbo points). In M-Force, they are Yum-Yums (please see Rule Number One above). They serve a similar function as the other points, allowing players to turn them in to change outcomes during the game itself. However, gamemasters in M-Force are actively encouraged (if not outright required) to bring a big bucket of candy to each session, tossing it around when their players do something that makes the game more fun.

The biggest benefit of Yum-Yums is that they draw the casual roleplayer (otherwise known as the beleaguered wife) more into the game. Who doesn’t want to earn candy?

Character Advancement

M-Force features an interesting method of character improvement. Players can use their Yum-Yums to increase their skills (which they’ll need to justify in some way) and then turn those skills in to gain a new Job rating (as set by the gamemaster).

The Job rating in M-Force tends to be the most important (although the right Gimmick can come into play just as often). This is due to being able to use the full Job stat rating, along with any applicable skills, when attempting a Job-related action. When attempting a non-Job related action, the character would halve their applicable stat (Body, Brain, or Nerve), then add any applicable skills. (For example, the Accountant who goes the shooting range whenever he gets the chance has a Body of 12 and Pistol Skill of plus 3. He would need to roll under 9 (half of 12 equals 6 plus 3). The character with the Job: M-Force Agent of 13 with no specialized pistol training would need to roll under 13, firearms training being an integral part of being an M-Force agent.

Gamemaster Guide

Chapters 14-17 feature a well-done Gamemaster Tips section, including a nice section on exactly what the gamemaster should be looking for during character creation.

The Monsters

The first two appendices detail sample monsters M-Force is likely to engage in their missions. A lot of the standard fare can be found (Zombies, Demons, Faeries, Giant Ants) as well as some non-standard stuff (Devil Clams, Giant Frogs of Doom, Electric Linguine, Flesh-Eating Woodchucks from Planet Zalooga—see Rule Number One above). Because M-Force can trace its history back to ancient times, it would have been nice to see some classical monsters included, like the Medusa, Sphinx, Minotaur, Basilisk, etc.

Three monsters: Slugs, Vampires, and Werewolves, are covered in extensive detail.

Slugs are worm-like creatures that inhabit human bodies, eventually taking control. Because of their human level intelligence and ability to consistently reproduce, Slugs currently represent the greatest threat to M-Force.

The game takes a decidedly anti-Vampire stance. According to the book, anyone with a sliver of hope or belief will not become a Vampire if their blood is drained, instead dying a natural death. For this reason, the Vampire-with-heart-of-gold doesn’t exist in the M-Force universe. “Harry became one of those damn bloodsuckers so we had to put him down hard. You’d think after eight years of working with a guy that you would really know him, but he must have been empty and dead inside all along.”

Werewolves in M-Force are more along classical lines, being humans that turn into large wolves and go on hunting sprees during the full moon. Because they are only dangerous during this time, they represent an ethical dilemma for M-Force. How do you deal with a foe that is only classified as a monster by the government—and can therefore be killed legally—while in wolf form? Is it ethical to lock someone up in jail for over thirty days, knowing that when the next full moon comes, they can be destroyed?

All The Rest

The final five appendices detail sample characters, weapons and equipment, worksheets and character sheets, source materials, and maps of M-Force’s National Headquarters. Most of it is pretty average, but the sample characters are well done. They are from M-Force’s Key West office, and I particularly liked the former flower child who swears she had an encounter with werewolves at the Grateful Dead concert. Of course, everyone else discounts it as a bad acid trip. The maps are disappointing; being standard computer drawings (doesn’t anyone do hand-drawn maps anymore?).

Artwork and Design

For a smaller game company, the artwork featured throughout the book is good. The front cover features about half of the M-Force logo (so as to make it as large as possible while still being recognizable, I’m guessing) bleeding off the right edge of the page, over a black background (which doesn’t take wear and tear very well). Strangely enough, there are no titles or words of any kind on the front cover, but the full title is written clearly on the binding. It makes for a striking effect, although I’ll probably find out later that this was just a printing error. The back cover features artwork of three M-Force members along with the obligatory blurb. The illustration, while good enough, could have really rocked with a better colorist. Unfortunately, one of the female members pictured is a Goth-type who has decided that fighting monsters is best done while wearing thong underwear (at least she is wearing pants, albeit lowriders).

And then there are the black and white photos previously mentioned. At first, I thought, “Wow, look at all of the gamers playing dress up!” But then Rule Number One (see above) hit me, and some of these photos are now among my favorites. I especially liked the young Junior M-Forcers selling their M-Force candy bars at a local fund raiser. My only quibble is that it appears that most of the photos were taken in color and converted to black and white, which has caused the contrast and details to wash out in many cases. Black and white photography for publication can be problematic like that.

Comparisons

How does M-Force compare with other monster hunting roleplaying games currently on the market? Fairly well.

Clearly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is now the 800 pound gorilla in this segment, and deservedly so. There wouldn’t be much of a market for monster hunting games without the Buffy television show, and Eden Studios has done an excellent job of adapting it to roleplaying. However, Buffy carries some baggage that M-Force does not. Most players aren’t going to be hip enough, witty enough, or into Buffy enough to pull off anything more than a pale imitation of the show. Adapting the M-Force agency to the Buffyverse wouldn’t be difficult. Think of them as the rambunctious-volunteer-firefighter-types of the monster sect.

There is also Hunter: The Reckoning by White Wolf Games. This game has much more of a creep factor to it than M-Force. Am I really a monster hunter, or just some psychopath who hears voices in my head? By using unearthly powers, do I not become as much of a monster as the monsters I hunt? White Wolf obviously has a vested interest in their monsters to make the answers to these questions or life in general very comfortable for their monster hunters.

The fact that M-Force can even be reasonably compared to these heavy hitters is the ultimate tribute. Of the smaller companies, Teenage Demon Slayers for UNIgames Pocket Universe is just Buffy with the serial numbers filed off (admittedly at a significantly reduced page count and price). Interestingly, the franchises detailed in Nightshift Games’ Vampire Hunter$ fit better in the world of M-Force than they do in their own setting (it helps in running a business that destroys monsters when the government officially sanctions your activities).

I’m sure there are other monster-hunting games out there that I’ve missed. I would include the venerable Call of Cthulu by Chaosium in this category, except that it’s more of a mystery hunter-monster run away from like a screaming baby kind of game.

For anyone that wants more information on M-Force: Monster Hunting in the 21st Century, check out the Hex Games Home Page.