NightLife is set in New York. A strange New York that is sandwiched between the movie Warriors and the First World Trade Center bombing. A city that is hot and perpetually at night. Something like Dark City meets Nightbreed.
NightLife
by Bradley K. McDevitt, L. Lee Cerny, Walter H. Mytczynskyj
1990, 1992 Stellar Games, 256 pages.
Much like Beyond the Supernatural, NightLife is wonderfully crunchy. Character creation is a prime example. Roll 4d10 for the eight attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Fitness, Intellect, Will, Perception, Attractiveness, and Luck. Then there are another twenty d10s to put toward your skills. And there is a lot of them. It is very much an RPG of its time in that having a skill for something matters, and you will find them for everything from firearms and martial arts to pharmacology, manuscript illumination, seduction, and even skateboarding. Honestly, it already feels like the heart of this game is a cyberpunk game gone horror, splatterpunk. This will not be the last time I feel this while going over the rules.
The underlying system is simple enough. Your attributes and skills yield a percentage, and you roll under on percentile dice. A 20 in a given skill denotes you are competent at the everyday task without needing to make a roll; it is only when things get difficult, or you are under pressure, that the dice come out. Character generation can be a bit of a time sink, but once you are in the game, the central mechanic is not hard to grasp.
The art is very early 1990s punk style. Cool for the time, but looks a bit dated by today's standards. To be fair, one of the creators, Bradley K. McDevitt, has his own stock-art service, and his stuff is great. I have used his art many, many times in my own work. So, to me, despite its age, the art is very much a "draft" of what I consider "urban horror art." Later on, the artists for Vampire: The Masquerade and WitchCraft RPG would help define this style in my mind. But credit where credit is due for starting here.
The Kin
What sets this apart is that you do not go after the monsters. You are the monster. Like I mentioned above, it covers similar ground to Vampire: The Masquerade, but the tone here is less Anne Rice.
The supernatural types refer to themselves as the Kin, leaving ordinary people with the rather condescending title of "the Herd." The book has seven varieties of Kin: Vampyres, Werewolves, Ghosts, Daemons, Wyghts, Inuits, and Animates. They all have their Edges, or powers, and the traditional Flaws of being a monster. The Magic sourcebook also adds Witches to the mix.
Vampyres are of the old school. Give them sunlight, garlic, a wooden stake, running water, or holy objects, and they will be stopped. They turn into bats, mist, and wolves. These vampyres are more akin to Dracula than Lestat, but his DNA is in there as well. Werewolves change shape. Ghosts are the dead with unfinished business. Animates are your Frankenstein’s monsters and golems. Daemons are extradimensional and have been magically put here. And Wyghts are unpleasant undead affairs that siphon the youth from their victims.
Then we have the Inuits.
Well, yes. This is where the game’s age shows, and not in an endearing way. The handling of Indigenous spirits under that moniker is something I would either not use or rewrite.
Edges, Flaws, and Humanity
You have Edges, the supernatural side of things. Some are common, some are for a particular Kin. Claws, telepathy, weather control, possession, invisibility, speed, and armor are among the options. But the cleverness lies in the price.
That price is Humanity.
Humanity is not merely a morality stat on the sheet for the GM to levy punishment with. It is a resource to be spent.
Your monster can do some very cool things, but they are the very things that erode what is human about him. That is a fine mechanic. There is a built-in temptation in the rules. You can have more power, but how much of yourself are you prepared to put on the line?
It goes both ways. High Humanity can make you functionally human. Let it drop, and the character becomes more visibly monstrous, his weaknesses more pronounced. Lose too much Humanity, and now your character has become a true monster and an NPC. I like this idea. The World of Darkness games made this idea their central thesis; other games have a form of this as well. NightLife wasn't the first to do this, but they did do it well.
The City at Night
An urban fantasy needs somewhere for its denizens to put down roots, and NightLife gets that. Not just a crypt or a haunted house. We are talking clubs and bars, record stores, and warehouses. Back rooms and street corners. The sort of places for showing off, making bad decisions, and hearing what is going on. You could say nightclubs are the heart of the game's culture. Style is everything, as is the right music and the right clothes. The book is so preoccupied with fashion that a modern retrospective put it best: in NightLife, a gun can sometimes look like the more economical option than a proper wardrobe.
Then there are the particular modifiers for a fight on the dance floor. That's about as much of a NightLife rule as you will find. I can't think of another game that does that.
Do not mistake this for Gothic horror moved to an urban environment. This is urban horror. The monsters are of the city; they have their neighborhoods and their enemies three blocks away; they have favorite clubs, and they listen to the music. It is easy to see why the comparison to The Warriors holds up.
New York is as much of a character here as it is a setting.
The supernatural is divided into factions and gangs with differing views on humanity. You have the Commune, which is content to let Kin and humans coexist, or the Complex, which would rather control and make use of them. The Morningstar Corporation will undermine society with its wealth and politics, while Red Moonrise is far less subtle and has no qualms about terror and slaughter. And if one wants to be hunted, there are human outfits like the Van Helsing Society and Target Alpha who know the Kin are out there. In short, there is always someone to have a go at. NightLife anticipates as much.
There is some wonderful worldbuilding here that sadly went unnoticed at the time.
Putting the Splatter Back in Splatterpunk
This is no subtle affair. The rulebook will tell you exactly how big a wound is from the damage taken. A Kin can take some horrific injury and come back for more unless put down in a certain way. That kind of durability is what lets the game live up to its splatterpunk side.
Shadow of the Vampire
One cannot help but compare this to Vampire: The Masquerade. NightLife came first in 1990 with Vampire behind it in 1991. They share the d10s, the Humanity stat, the urban backdrop and the same sort of player characters. Yet the tone is worlds apart. NightLife is punk where Vampire is Gothic. It is all about the leather jackets and the loud music, the blood on the wall, and the monsters having it out in the alley behind the club. There is plenty of angst to be had, but also a motorcycle chain and a switchblade.
In NightLife, everyone is Clan Brujah or Tremere.
What do I get out of NightLife? More than one might expect.
I am fond of the way it treats Humanity. It is not a passive number for the GM to judge by. Your very existence as a supernatural puts your connection to humanity at risk. I can make a lot of use of that.
I also appreciate the Kin being a single culture. Vampires and werewolves do not need to be in separate societies that never cross paths; they can be in the same faction and have the same enemies. Very fitting for an urban setting. They can still hate each other. Fight in gang wars or even have an uneasy alliance. Same with the other types here.
The factions are fine, though I would not use them verbatim. What interests me is the concept: supernatural beings at odds over how to deal with ordinary people, and those differences turning political or violent.
But the thing NightLife offers above all is a sense of place. The supernatural has to be somewhere on a Friday night. It may sound foolish, but a community is only convincing when there is a bar they all know, a record store open till two in the morning, a diner where the night staff won’t remark on odd patrons, and an alley to settle scores. I put that to work in NIGHT SHIFT.
For example, in my 1990s sequel to Jackson set in Chicago, Faye Thorne, now calling herself Fiona Voss, runs a record store called Muse. Muse is where people (and not-people) congregate and hear things. Even those who would not normally work together can be found across from each other because they both know it is safe ground.
And that is what NightLife does best. It is not a matter of monsters hiding in the city, but of them having a life in it. The distinction is important. The vampire has a band he likes. The daemon has a drink with an old friend. The ghost knows her way in. The werewolf has friends and enemies and the clothes and the neighborhood to prove it. The supernatural is not in town for a visit. It lives here.
And regardless of the Kin, they all need somewhere to buy the new Inkubus Sukkubus album.
My Jackson Kids: Chicago 1992
This campaign does not have a name yet. Nor is it even very well defined. I just know this. Like my real kids, my Jackson, IL kids will grow up and move out at some point. Some end up in Chicago in the 1990s. Why Chicago? Why not! I LOVE Chicago.
Among the PCs/NPCs I'll work with, there will be Larina, Faye/Fiona, Roderick Morgan, and Moria Zachary. There will be new characters too, but the players will create those.
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| Fiona, Larina, and Moria, Chicago 1992 |
And...that is about all I have for that campaign! Really. I have some other idea involving the Maxwell Street Market and other things I loved about Chicago in the 1990s, but this notion is in it's infancy.
So I am trying out a lot of different ideas. Namely, this campaign is an attempt to move from Modern Horror (Jackson, Sunny Valley) into Urban Fantasy. The horror is still there, but it isn't the same sort of thing.
So, for NightLife, I started with the core book and create a character who fits. I considered turning one of my Jackson kids into a ghost, but in truth I just couldn't bring myself to do that. So instead, I am using a character and keeping her more or less as is. Then I grabbed a copy of the magic book and created twom more characters.
Edited to Add: In my online research, I see that there is a book for NightLife called "America After Dark." I didn't really have the time to buy a copy. Though maybe I will grab it later on since it covers the time period when I was living downtown. In truth I should assemble all the RPGs and supplements that cover Chicago sometime. Especially if I get this Chicago game off the ground.
Race/Kin: Daemon
Age: 21
Abilities
Strength (STR) 23
Dexterity (DEX) 34
Fitness (FIT) 27
Intellect (INT) 26
Will 21
Perception (PER) 27
Attractiveness (ATT) 27
Luck 19
Magic Ability (MA) -
Base Hand-to-Hand (HTH) damage 4
Max Humanity 80
Humanity 36 (40)
Survival Points 46
Edges and Flaws
All Kin
Armor 5, Aura Sight 27, Claws 27, Danger Sense 27, Drain 27 (diet: Human or Animal Life Force), Speed 34
Kin Specific Edges
Alter Form 21, Body Control 27, Flight 27 (true form only), Telepathy 26, Travel 21
Flaws
Substance Vulnerability: Flint, Holy Relics, Fire (double damage), Command: Majestic Daemonic
Skills
Combat Skills
Pistol 41, Streetfighting 52
Archaic Skills
Kin Lore 37
General Skills
Alertness 34, City Knowledge (Chicago) 32, Disguise 30, Language (English) 30, Persuasion 31, Psychology 33, Seduction 31, Stealth 57, Streetwise 42, Theology (Catholic) 32
Occult Skills
Occult Knowledge 34
Connections
Bar Bouncer, Bartender, Police Detective
Money: $13,000.
Moria is great for this. Plus, we haven't seen her in Jackson for a while, so it has a nice "what the hell are you doing here?" vibe. I also like the idea that the girl who was considered dangerous in Jackson is just mildly threatening here in Chicago.
Race/Kin: Human, Witch
Age: 22
Abilities
Strength (STR) 15
Dexterity (DEX) 28
Fitness (FIT) 25
Intellect (INT) 35
Will 34
Perception (PER) 34
Attractiveness (ATT) 30
Luck 21
Magic Ability (MA) 30
Base Hand-to-Hand (HTH) damage 5
Max Humanity 100
Humanity 48 (50)
Survival Points 46
Edges and Flaws
All Kin
None
Kin Specific Edges
None
Flaws
None
Magic
Shadow Paths, Deflection, Escape, Magic Sight, Vibes, Word, EMT, Lighter, Open
Skills
Combat Skills
Knife 31, Pistol 27, Martial Arts (Judo) 42
Archaic Skills
none
General Skills
Alertness 39, City Knowledge (Chicago) 38, Driving 31, First Aid 34, Language (English) 35, Language (Greek) 35, Language (Latin) 35, Persuasion 37, Psychology 43, Research 48, Streetwise 31
Occult Skills
Library Research (Magic) 48, Talismanic Magic 40, Herbal Magic 40, Occult Knowledge 44
Connections
Bar Bouncer, Bartender, Police Detective, Elder Kin
Money: $8,000.
Larina only lives here during her undergraduate and Master's degrees, from fall of 1987 to Spring/summer of 1993. I have her going on other adventures in 1993 that correspond to her Chill 2nd edition period and flowing into her WitchCraft RPG time. Whether those games involve the same "mirror shard" of Larina or not, I don't know yet. But for now, this is Larina in 1992.
Race/Kin: Human, Sorceress (near Kin)
Age: 22
Abilities
Strength (STR) 20
Dexterity (DEX) 24
Fitness (FIT) 28
Intellect (INT) 34
Will 46
Perception (PER) 30
Attractiveness (ATT) 34
Luck 20
Magic Ability (MA) 35
Base Hand-to-Hand (HTH) damage 4
Max Humanity 80
Humanity 30 (Soul Burn)
Survival Points 48 (36 in stored spells)
Edges and Flaws
All Kin
Drain 28 (Fiona "recharges" herself by going out)
Kin Specific Edges
None
Flaws
Substance Vulnerability: Metorite iron, salt (she makes up for it with hot peppers)
Magic
Black out, Shadow Paths, Deflection, Escape, Hotwire. EMT (white), Dispel Magic (white), boombox (white), Binding (black)
Skills
Combat Skills
Pistol 28, Streetfighting 32
Archaic Skills
Kin Lore 40
General Skills
Administration 42, Alertness 36, Business 44, City Knowledge (Chicago) 42, Dancing 29, Driving 28, Fashion Sense 34, First Aid 38, Intimidation 50, Leadership 54, Musical Style (Goth/Alternative) 46, Profession (Record Store Manager) 46, Research 38, Security Systems 39, Stealth 29, Streetwise 56
Occult Skills
Occult Knowledge 42
In many ways, Fiona has become my standout NPC in my Chicago games.
Larina is a human witch; Fiona is a near-kin Sorceress. I opted to go in this direction so I could see the differences between the two magic types in the Magic book. Fiona is still recovering from her near Hag-conversion. So her magic feels more like a Kin than Larina's coven magic does.
So, I want to talk about the differences between Jackson-era Faye and Chicago-Fiona. Same girl, different experiences. In some ways, Fiona becomes more Fiona in NightLife. Faye hated high school, and she hated (hates) Jackson. She flees first to UIUC and then to UIC, but it isn't college or university academics that give her life. It is Chicago. Here is a giant city filled with strange new people, and she LOVES it.
I get it. I remember leaving class one summer night and looking out at the city from a Blue Line L station and just being in awe of how beautiful it was. In my mind, Faye saw the same sight, but where I was in awe, she fell in love. Faye embraced Chicago in such a fundamentally deep way. From that moment on, she was never, ever going to leave.
NightLife also gave some great ideas for Faye/Fiona regardless of what game system I might use. She works till close at Muse (before she owned it) and then goes out to clubs that would have been too dangerous for a girl in her 20s to go to by herself, but she is a powerful sorceress/witch. She dances until 3 am, eats Thai food or whatever is still open (lots of places), and turns around and goes back to work the next day.
While all of this is wonderful for Fiona, it is the start of Fiona and Larina growing apart. They still remain close; you can't erase that. But they are setting their sights now in different directions.
Jackson to Chicago
I did not set out to create another campaign this month. I certainly don't need another campaign. But somewhere along the way I followed these kids out of Jackson and into Chicago. By 1992 they are no longer kids, and the supernatural isn't something hiding beneath their hometown anymore. It has neighborhoods, jobs, stores, clubs, politics, and a social life. I don't know what I am going to do with that yet. For now I am calling it Chicago 92. I suspect I will be coming back to it.
Jackson was about discovering the supernatural. Chicago is starting to look like it will be about living with it.
Final Word
NightLife will not replace NIGHT SHIFT on my table. NIGHT SHIFT is just a far better fit for what I want out of a horror RPG. But I would not have NIGHT SHIFT in my hands now if it hadn't been for the nightclubs and streets of NightLife.
I intended to explore how a single campaign idea could be viewed through the lens of different games; I ended up with much more than that. I got so much out of these games that I think I'll do a proper retrospective later. Likely next month.
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