I know that supernatural bonds get +d4, but I've seen some people do that for the monster's supernatural Traits as well.  Is that as intended?

Now that you mention it, I've given the characters supernatural traits an extra d4. I've searched the rules and it isn't in there, so I suspect I'm wrong. Still, I'll hold out on Vincent's ruling.

I had a strong opinion about this when I wrote the rules. Now I can't for the life of me remember what it was, or why it was strong.

Play whichever way makes sense to you, and report back! I'll be interested to hear which.

-Vincent

With regards to characters, what made sense at the time, and for that group, was to add the +d4. Let me try and break it down.

When I play Dogs I want people to realise they've got a gun. They have to put that gun on the sheet if they've got one. They have to write +1d4 next to it. If someone doesn't put a gun on their sheet, then they've made a really strong statement about their character, "In a world where people might well shoot at me, I don't carry a gun." The whole thing is significant.

With Afraid I want people to realise the supernatural is significant. Actually firstly and foremostly I want them to realise they can be supernatural powers at all. Just spending the extra ten seconds explaining about the supernatural rule makes everyone think twice about whether or not to use it, makes them think about their character and whether the supernatural fits. And I want supernatural abilities to have complications. I want them to feel important, and I want people to think about them.

I don't know how it impacts play yet, I suspect not very much, but just in terms of raising a question at character creation I think it's a worthwhile thing.

Ditto about Monster Traits. I'd say briefly that nightmarish resources should be scary and complicate things, but I'll report back after I get to use some. What I strongly suspect is that they will function as an important way for the Monster to get more dice, and I'll feed back on that as well.

Oh, yeah, PCs get the +d4 for the supernatural for certain. Anything supernatural - bonds, traits, relationships, belongings.

Does the monster? I don't remember.

-Vincent