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Copyright GA M ES
Against the Monster
Version 1.1, April 2024
Publisher: Plotbunny Games – Andrea Rick, Berlin, Germany
 plotbunnygames.com
Game Design: Jasmin Neitzel und Andrea Rick
Proofreading: Marx Shepherd (English), Camilla Kutzner (German)
Illustrations: Andrea Rick
Layout: Andrea Rick
Crowdfunding consulting: Jasmin Neitzel
 This game is also available in German through Plotbunny Games. 

© Copyright 2024 – The work and all of its parts are covered by German
copyright law (Urheberrecht). You have permission to copy and distribute parts
of the work to enable playing the game. This also goes for public games at
cons and in Actual Plays/Let’s Plays (in those cases, we appreciate a note to
the publisher, though). Any other use (full or partial) is prohibited unless you
have the prior express written permission of the creators or license holders.
This goes especially for any duplication, reproduction, adaptation, translation,
distribution, and making available to the public, both digitally and otherwise.
This work is based on For the Queen (found at https://www.forthequeengame.
com), product of Alex Roberts and Evil Hat Productions, and licensed for our
use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0). For the Queen™ is a trademark of Alex
Roberts. The Descended From the Queen Logo is © Alex Roberts, and is used
with permission.
 Table of Contents
What You Need...................................................................................................... 4
About the Game..................................................................................................... 5
Introduction............................................................................................................6
Set-up...................................................................................................................... 7
Cards.................................................................................................................. 7
Setting............................................................................................................... 7
Monster............................................................................................................. 7
Topics................................................................................................................. 7
Veto.................................................................................................................. 8
How to Play.............................................................................................................9
Drawing Cards & Answering Questions.......................................................9
Making Decisions.............................................................................................9
Adapting or Passing On Questions..............................................................9
Detailing Characters & Setting................................................................... 10
Ending the Game.......................................................................................... 10
Now the Story Begins .......................................................................................... 11
 Hearts ............................................................................................................ 12
 Diamonds ....................................................................................................... 14
 Clubs .............................................................................................................. 16
 Spades ............................................................................................................ 18
Final Question................................................................................................ 19
After the Game.................................................................................................... 20
Monster Ideas....................................................................................................... 21
Acknowledgments...............................................................................................22
Inspirations............................................................................................................22
 What You Need
ÊÊ 2–6 players (no GM)
ÊÊ This zine or PDF
ÊÊ A regular deck of playing cards (52 cards without Jokers);
an online version can be found at playingcards.io
ÊÊ 1–4 hours of play time (as you like)
ÊÊ Something to take notes

4
 About the Game
You have set out together to hunt the monster and end its existence once and for all.

Against the Monster is a story game about a monster hunt, the good of
the monster, and the monstrosity of the hunters.
Whether it’s a dragon, vampire, tentacle monster, artificial intelligence, or
some­thing else entirely—you’ll decide in which setting you’ll hunt what kind of
monster.

The game needs no preparation. You just need this zine and a regular deck of
playing cards, and you’re ready to go.
At first, you read the instructions out loud together (starting with »Intro­duction«
on page 6). If someone can’t read out loud or doesn’t want to, just skip
that person. The text has our recommended consent and safety tools already
built in. During that introduction, you also define the rough setting of your
monster hunt.
Then the core game starts: You take turns drawing a playing card and looking
up the question associated with it in the random tables (pages 12–19).
Over the course of the game, you’ll develop your monster, your characters,
and details about the environment of the monster hunt through your
answers to the questions.

When the monster faces you in the end:

Do you really attack it?

5
 Introduction
Take turns reading one section of the following text out
loud (up to and including page 11). If someone can’t
read out loud or doesn’t want to, just skip that person.
Against the MONSTER is a story game about a
monster hunt, the good of the monster, and the monstrosity
of the hunters.

During a short collaborative preparation phase, we define the founda-

tions of our game. Then we take turns drawing playing cards. Each of
those is associated with a question. Over the course of the game,
we’ll develop our monster and our characters through our answers
to these questions.

In the end, every character answers: »Suddenly, the monster is

facing you. Do you attack it?«

6
 Set-up
Cards
We look for the King of Spades in our card deck and
put it to one side. We shuffle and stack the rest of the cards.
For a game of about 2 hours, we put the King of Spades some-
where in the middle of the card deck. For a shorter or longer
game, we put it further up or down in the stack.

Setting
We’ve set out together to hunt the monster and end its existence once
and for all.
Now we’ll customize our setting together in some more detail.
We’ll just sketch out a rough picture—further details will develop during
the game. We can take notes if we like.
ÊÊ What’s our environment? (E.g. forest, city, desert, space station, dungeon,
mountains, at sea, virtual world)
ÊÊ Did someone send us? Or did we set out on our own initiative?

Monster
Our monster can develop over the course of the game and surprise us with the
shape it takes.
We can also define the general type of monster and just leave the details
open. There are examples in the random roll table on page 21.

Topics
Now we’ll discuss which topics we’d like to leave out of the game entirely,
which ones we only want to hint at, and which aspects we’re particularly
interested in. We can take notes if we like.
Please note: The game assumes that the hunters originally set out to
kill the monster. Some questions imply that the monster or the
hunters have caused harm or damage.

7
 Veto
If anything appears during the game that spoils your fun, you can
remove that content anytime. You can use established consent and safety
tools like the X-Card or Script Change. Or you can just say »I’d like to remove
that«—whatever works for you.
After such a veto, it might be necessary to clarify what content needs to be
removed or changed. But you never have to explain why you want something
removed.

After a veto has been given, we’ll check in with each other:
Do we feel like continuing play right away? Do we need a short break?
Would we like to stop the game altogether?

If we want to, we can add further methods to ensure every­one’s safety,

consent, and well-being, and to clarify the shared direction of the game.
In any case, the people and their well-being are always more important
than the game!

8
 How to Play
Drawing Cards & Answering Questions
When it’s your turn, draw a playing card from the stack. Then look up the
question attached to it on pages 12–19, and read the question out loud.
If you can’t or don’t want to read out loud, someone else can do it for you.
Then interpret and answer the question how­ever you like.

During your turn, the other players may ask you follow-up questions or make
further suggestions.
Whether you answer these questions or accept the suggestions is your decision.

Making Decisions
Be brave and make decisions about the world and the monster.
As long as you respect any boundaries expressed earlier, there are no wrong
answers. Trust that the other players will suggest alternatives or give a veto if
necessary.

Adapting or Passing On Questions

If necessary, adapt the question, ask the other players for ideas, or skip
your turn and pass along the question to the next player. You can also
remove a question you drew yourself.
A question can be passed along until it has been answered or until
someone vetoes it.
If the question you drew is taken out of the game by a veto, just
draw a new playing card.

9
 Detailing Characters & Setting
During the game, you can define further details about your character or the
setting or ask other players for such details. We can take notes if we like.

Ending the Game

We’ll keep playing as before until we draw the King of Spades (or until we have
10–15 minutes left to play).
Everyone then answers the final question (see page 19). Then the game is
over.
To wrap things up, we’ll do a round of highlights (see page 20).

10
 Now the Story Begins ...
We’ve set out together to hunt the monster and end its existence once and for all.
It can’t take long now until we’ve tracked down the monster…

Whoever wants to, draws the first playing card and looks up the first
question on the following pages.

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  Hearts 

Ace What do you find beautiful about the monster?

What do you find disturbing about the appearance of the

2 monster?

Where did you first see the monster? What about this
3 encounter will you remember forever?

4 Who would be proud of you if you defeated the monster?

5 Who wants you to spare the monster?

When did you know that the monster is no danger to

6 you? Why do you still hunt it?

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 What about the monster reminds you of your childhood?
7 How does that make you feel?

You’ve defeated a different monster before. Which one?

8 What do you regret about that?

9 What particular ability of the monster frightens you?

What equipment do you have with you to fight the

10 monster?

Jack Why does the monster make you feel insecure?

Queen Why does the monster make you angry?

King Why does the monster make you sad?

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  Diamonds 

You dream of the monster regularly. What do your

Ace dreams look like?

2 What scent tells you the monster is near?

3 What sound tells you the monster is near?

4 Why do you envy the monster?

You lost something to the monster. What is it and what

5 happened?

6 Why do you want to see the monster suffer?

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 7 What will you (and only you) get for killing the monster?

8 What about you is a danger to the monster?

9 What treasure does the monster guard or own?

10 What did you notice first about the monster?

Jack What aspect of the monster did you almost miss?

Why do you think the monster trusts you more than it

Queen trusts the other hunters?

King Why are you grateful to the monster?

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  Clubs 

Why didn’t you kill the monster during your most recent
Ace encounter?

2 Which weakness of the monster do you know of?

3 What traces did the monster leave in this area?

4 What traces did the monster leave on your body?

5 What traces did you leave on the monster’s body?

6 What about the monster is surprisingly familiar to you?

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 7 Why can’t you stop thinking about the monster?

8 Why do you secretly pity the monster?

What harm or damage did you already cause during the

9 monster hunt?

What disturbing similarity do you see between the

10 monster and yourself?

Jack Where does the monster hide from you?

Queen Where do you find refuge from the monster?

They say the monster is pure evil. Why do you doubt

King that?

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  Spades 

Ace How do animals react to the monster?

What did you gain during the monster hunt so far?

2 What about that was unexpected?

What rumor have you heard about the monster?

3 Do you believe it?

What rumor do you spread about the monster?

4 Do you believe it yourself?

The monster has spared you during a previous encounter.

5 Does that make you feel relieved or guilty?

How have you changed since you’ve encountered the

6 monster?

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 7 How did you prepare for the monster hunt?

8 What emotion did you see in the monster’s eyes?

What weakness do you try to hide from the other

9 hunters? Who knows about it nonetheless?

What special strength do you have? What about it is

10 frightening?

What do you do to convince the other hunters of your

Jack view of the monster?

What isn’t as it used to be since you’ve begun hunting the

Queen monster?

Final Question:
Suddenly, the monster is facing you.
King Do you attack it?
(Everyone answers this question. Then the game is over.)

19
 After the Game
After the game, go around the group and have everyone name a
personal highlight of the session. You can also share wishes for future
sessions of Against the Monster.
Of course you can continue talking about your experiences with the game
afterwards, or just spend some time together.

20
 Monster Ideas
If you want to create your game around a particular monster type,
you’ll find examples in this random roll table. You can choose your
monster or roll for it.
To do so, roll a six-sided die (D6) twice. The first roll determines the
column, the second roll determines the row.

1-2 3-4 5-6

1 Dragon Werewolf Alien

Artificial Flesh-eating Frankenstein’s

2 intelligence plant creature

Masked
3 Angel Elemental
slasher

4 Cat Demon Kaiju

5 Robot Ghost Spider monarch

6 Tentacle monster Vampire The Devil

21
 Acknowledgments
Our gratitude goes to:
ÊÊ Alex Roberts for For the Queen and the corresponding System
Reference Document (SRD), which was the mechanical foundation of
Against the Monster.
ÊÊ Sandra Dahlhoff and Andrea Rick for their permission to use and adapt
some of the rules text from their game Viva la QueerBar.
ÊÊ Joy and Olav for the spider test.
ÊÊ Our playtesters for your characters, your monsters, and your feedback:
Barti, Big Nose, Christoph, Christoph Hardebusch, Cifer, KeganExe,
KritzelPixel, Mads Turley, Marie Hillert ‚Findelfuchs‘, Michael, Sabine V.,
Sarah Frank, Scaeda, Shay Igrima, SirHeckaLot, Stefan Oberländer, and
Robbie Boerth.
ÊÊ All 209 backers of the crowdfunding campaign—without you, this project
wouldn‘t have been possible.

Inspirations
ÊÊ For the Queen, Alex Roberts (story game)
ÊÊ Viva la QueerBar, Sandra Dahlhoff and Andrea Rick (story game)
ÊÊ Have You Heard About the Beast?, Matt Sanders (role-playing game)
ÊÊ Follow, Ben Robbins (story game)
ÊÊ Nimona (movie)
ÊÊ Shadow of the Colossus (video game)
ÊÊ X-Card by John Stavropoulos: tinyurl.com/x-card-rpg;
translation into German: bit.ly/x-karte-deutsch
ÊÊ Script Change by Beau Jágr Sheldon:
thoughty.itch.io/script-change;
translation into German:
selbsthilfegruppe.itch.io/kommandozurueck

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Other Games by LO
TBUNN

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Plotbunny Games
GA M ES
Viva la QueerBar
Vignettes about a queer bar and the team who runs it—pleasures and struggles in a
queer community. Descended from the Queen story game. One-shot for 2–6 players,
no GM.

Follow
Story game about a fellowship on a quest working together or falling apart.
18 different settings/topics included. One-shot or mini campaign for 2–5 players,
no GM. Official German translation.

Bunny, We Bought a Dungeon

Anthropomorphic fantasy bunnies explore and renovate a dungeon to move in there
together. OSR story game with D6 dice pool and map-drawing. One-shot for 2–6
players, no GM.

Dolly, We Bought a Dream House

Dollys in a pinktastic world explore and furnish a dream house. Dream-house-drawing
story game with D6 dice pool. One-shot for 2–6 players, no GM.

Miss Bernburg’s Finishing School for Young Ladies

Interpersonal drama between young ladies at a boarding school in the 1950s in
Western Europe or North America. Firebrands story game. One-shot or short cam-
paign for 3–6 players, no GM.

Mini Games
The Lovecraft Boat. Monsters need to do the crew jobs on a cruise ship and
stay undetected. Lasers & Feelings hack. One-shot or short campaign for 2–6 players
and 1 GM.
Rodents with Guitars. A group of rodents want to win a guitar band contest
together. Honey Heist hack. One-shot for 2–6 players and 1 GM.
Magical Pets. Pets at a magical school solve pet-sized problems while their
humans are busy otherwise. Lasers & Feelings hack. One-shot or short campaign for
2–6 players and 1 GM.
ImproVeto. Tell absurd stories together, changing them with a veto, and adapt-
ing them spontaneously—practice using the X-Card and narrative improvisation.
Story game. One-shot (10–90 min.) for 2–6 players, no GM.

plotbunnygames.com
plotbunnygames.itch.io
 Against the Monster
You’ve set out together to hunt the monster and end its existence once and for all.
Against the Monster is a story game about a monster hunt, the good
of the monster, and the monstrosity of the hunters.
Whether it’s a dragon, vampire, tentacle monster, artificial intelligence, or
some­thing else entirely—you‘ll decide in which setting you’ll hunt what kind
of monster.
When the monster faces you in the end: Do you really attack it?

Against the Monster is a Descended from the Queen game. By way

of a deck of playing cards you take turns to draw random questions. Over
the course of the game, you develop your monster and your characters
through your answers to the questions.
 No previous experience with tabletop role-playing games or story
games necessary
 Number of players: 2–6 (GM-less)
 Game duration: 1–4 hours (your choice)
 Preparation time: None (start playing immediately)
 Extra materials needed: A deck of playing cards
(52 cards without Jokers)

TBUNN
LO
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GA M ES