Who they are and who they would play · 11:00pm Jun 13th, 2021
There is a table top roleplaying game called Monster of the Week. It is based on shows or books with that sort of idea: each episode (or book) deals with the main character facing off and fighting a different monster. Examples listed in the game book include: Buffy/Angel, X-files, Fringe, and The Dresden Files. Like with Dungeons and Dragons, there are choices on what you play, but with several differences.
One: there is only one player for each character type, so you can't have two of the same type (such as The Chosen One). Although there is some overlap at times.
Two: they don't have a singular character sheet that you can fill out. They use what are called "playbooks" which has the choices for everything in the character listed out, including how they level up. It's about two pages in total for most.
There's more to it, but the game play mechanics do not quite matter any further on this. What matters is the characters and playbooks.
Playbooks for the original and its supplement Tome of Mysteries can be found here for anyone to look at.
It is also what anyone will need to look at for the next part. Two questions that tie this to MLP.
First, if the characters were in Monster of the Week, what would they be?
Second, if the characters were to play Monster of the Week, what class do you think they would pick?
I will start and use Sunset Shimmer as an example.
Sunset Shimmer herself could be a Monstrous. This touches on her not completely human nature, as she is not originally from Earth. Plus the "Pure Drive" curse option can takes into account her past behavior, as well as her trying to become better and not be like that any more.
As for playing the game herself, I say she would pick Spell-slinger. This would let her pretend to use magic without there being a threat that forces her to actually do so in real life. Besides, while most roles would allow her to scratch the itch to be special, this also lets her try and keep some humility and teamwork, as she could be more of a powerful support to help the others, instead of taking on a position of major power and authority.
Feel free to disagree with me and put your own up.
Also, yes, the supplement Tome of Mysteries is allowed in case someone wants to use one of those playbooks.
Look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Good questions. And good example.
Another possible one: Applejack could be a Superman Substitute character (one of the more heroic examples of this). I mean, Superman has had a fair number of TV series over the years, right? She is a super-strong (definitely strong enough to hold her own against a fair number of monsters), nice guy farm girl. Her pony counterpart is the bearer of the Element of Honesty and Superman is said to be a champion of Truth and Justice. Not to mention her arch-enemies, the Flim-Flam Brothers could serve as an analogue to Lex Luthor (one of them the mad scientist version, the other the businessman version).
Hmm. Well, looking over the playbooks, Sci-Twi seems like a textbook Hex who managed to go through Apotheosis and Synthesis. (Secrets for her temptation, naturally.) As for her preferred character to play, I definitely see her leaning towards Expert. She does enjoy the educational and advisory roles.
The others... well, they all started as Mundanes. They got swept up in the madness when they befriended the weird new transfer student and haven't looked back since.
Applejack could make a very compelling Wronged. There's something appealing about her playing the vengeful yet remorseful survivor, especially given her parents. Though doing so might unearth some issues she's happier ignoring...
Fluttershy would absolutely stick with Mundane, channeling her own experiences with the supernatural. Though she could make for a very interesting Pararomantic.
Pinkie could probably make anything work and be disturbingly intense while in character. I especially like the idea of her going full "What is this human emotion you call friendship?" as a Divine.
Rainbow Dash won''t be able to resist declaring herself the Chosen One. She'll absolutely craft the most impractical special weapon imaginable and completely misunderstand how the Cool stat works.
And Rarity... Well, when there's a noir option, I'm not sure how she can refuse. Gumshoe it is, possibly with a code along the lines of "all debts must be settled" or "beauty must be preserved."
5534784
You gave me an idea.
I didn't include it, but there's a sight called generic games, which has a resource page where people can download additional archetype options (here, but like I said, it downloads). One of them is The Exile, which is a character that is brought to the present from the past. Applejack is heavily based on southern stereotypes already, so imagine her playing an monster hunting cowgirl from the actual wild west era.