Happy Halloween, Heroes! Did you spend the weekend enjoying your mandatory annual spooky session? If hope so. And I hope that your Halloween adventures gave you more treats (loot) than tricks (horrible death). Assuming you survived, what do you say we talk about the critters that tried to kill you?

First of all, a question: Have you ever noticed how many monsters are contagious? You’ve got werewolves and vampires of course, but plenty of other creatures share that same “you become the monster” schtick. Ghouls and shadows can cause you to rise as one of them, for example. Wander into an aboleth’s mucus cloud and you may find yourself a permanent denizen of the deep. Kytons want your soul, intellect devourers want your brain, and the lich’s club is always looking for new members. What’s interesting to me is that, in so many of these cases, monstrosity comes accompanied with a mechanical bonus. That makes the transformation into terrifying creatures of the night an upgrade. And that sets PCs up for a temptation story arc.

In the same way that the living room represents a whole class of creature, I think that these you-become-the-monster monsters are all designed to give a similar player experience. The World of Darkness is an entire setting predicated on the concept. Any of you guys remember the Vampire: The Masquerade tag line, “A game of personal horror?” That’s the story I’m talking about. Monsters are powerful, but they’re also less than human. Figuring out whether you want to make that trade is a compelling question for any adventurer, Van Helsing, Jack Sparrow, and Illidan Stormrage included.

Question of the day then: Have you ever “become the monster” in a game? Was it worth it? Let’s hear it in the comments!

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