Hey, folks!
I'm going to be running a Night Shift game for some friends of mine, using the Dread system, and I was wondering if you had any advice for building tension at the table.
Bump?
I guess that I'm just looking for advice on running a horror game.
What is a "Night Shift Game"?
>>47773647
Oh, Night Shift is a setting that /tg/ came up with.
Basically, your player-characters are a group of normal people, in a small town, dealing with extreme otherworldly weirdness.
Most Night Shift games take place, or at least start, at a gas station.
>>47773647
see here; https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Night_Shift
I ran a game of this over the weekend. I'll see if I can find the docs I made for it back when the original threads were still going. Weird that it's been two years now. To run really any horror game, you need to attack your players psychologically. Describing a monster and then saying it attacks, isn't scary, it turns the crux of your horror into just an obstacle. Try and think of concepts that scare you. What scares you? Why are you scared of them? Once you've boiled those ideas down to their fundamentals apply them to the game and how you run it. Night Shift emphasizes this type of horror, by constantly reinforces the idea that the horrors can't be physically defeated. Night Shift's lore and gameplay structure each night's new terror as a puzzle. Something related to whatever low paying job the PC's are working at, is the solution. Tatoo monster that drains a victim of their melanin and skin before leaving them a pile of mush, apply some sunscreen. Temperatures continually dropping to lethal levels, fix the AC. Cult leaders creating demonic iconography to summon the gas station into the underworld, erase the creepy graffiti in the men's bathroom. These solutions are found by hints dropped by the GM, and if the players still aren't getting it, by the characters in the world. Each threat has an ultimate goal, but also has a mostly logical way to counteract them.
>>47776113
Night Shift also contrasts and compares the normal with the paranormal. Keep the players on their toes, trying to figure out what's just some homeless man that got lost and staggered into the store, and what is the otherworldly abomination that has tried to disguise itself as a human to infiltrate human society before revealing it's true form. Keep the line between normal and weird blurry.
>>47772966
Every so often make your players do a perception roll and then continue on like nothing happened.
>>47772966
>>47772966
Dread manages the tension for you.
>>47780057
The biggest difference between horror and action is information. In horror the opposition remains mysterious. It has layers of threat that the protagonists reveal to their own peril. But revealing those is their only chance of defeating it.
What form this takes is up to flavor. But as soon as enough about the antagonist is revealed to gauge the threat, horror ends.
>>47780531
>The biggest difference between horror and action is information. In horror the opposition remains mysterious. It has layers of threat that the protagonists reveal to their own peril. But revealing those is their only chance of defeating it.
>What form this takes is up to flavor. But as soon as enough about the antagonist is revealed to gauge the threat, horror ends.
personally I like Horror Action the best, tweaking the proportions of each as needed(kinda hate horror situations where you're completely helpless, prefer situations where you can actually fight back to at least some degree)
>>47781398
Then you should go for horror flavor and provide structure beyond tension, not purist horror that tries to evoke an emotional reaction.
But you must be aware that monsters are subject to severe badass decay in the action genre. You cannot rely on reveals and must instead work with tactical pressure, reveals become mere flavor.
>>47780531
Set yourself up with a music player and an online ambient noise generator before the game. Find a bit of nondescript convenience store muzak and keep it playing softly on loop the whole game, possibly with some other staticky radio station or a crappy tv playing in the background too. Add to that mechanical rattles and hums to represent the busted old freezers and flickering flourescent lighting. Now you've got a basic soundscape for the Gas Station, into which you can slip other, more worrying things just at the edge of hearing. Breathing, whispering, screaming. Things the the PCs and their players can't be sure they've actually heard.
Kentucky Route Zero did a great job of creating layers of tension and dread without any "action" or primary antagonist.
I think Night Shift is kind of modeled on it.
>>47788335
>>47788335
Act IV when?
>>47788666
>When Yog-Sothoth Intones the Dread Syllable and Opens the Way to the Involuted Labyrinth
Probably end of this year.
>>47788335
If I remember right, images from Kentucky Route Zero were some of the first ones posted in the original Night Shift thread.
>>47788965
Well there you go.
>>47788988
Man, I love how the basement of the gas station is shaped like a horse...with the head above ground. Such a beautifully designed game.
>>47789002
I never noticed that...
>>47789111
The game is full of little things like that.
>>47789002
Reminds me of a certain other game.
This game would make a perfect horror campaign.
>>47789747
Well that's creepy. Is Pathologic that game where you play as an insane guy who's delusional?
>>47790013
Pretty sure it's Sanitarium or some other game.When you get to the last 2 days of the game, the map actually changes into SPOILERED FUN STUFF, and that's when it gets really spoopy and unsettling.
I'm dropping this here cause someone said it goes very well with Night Shift...
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/47589791/
I'm setting my game is Centralia, before the fires ruined it.
/co/ had a thread on this, so I hunted it down for you. If you're going for small-town horror, this is good for inspiration.
viewcomic.com/harrow-county-001-2015/
creepy music always helps.
I used to play this when I was keeper for CoC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPSEMCX8O7g&list=PLDFD707C49B6A0B41
>>47791224
It's been on my location list for ages.
What's under your Centralia?
>>47791552Lloigar. I use all three of the described manifestations that you can read about on Wikipedia. Four, actually, if you count the Capital L Lloigar as a god in his own right.
Posting inna nightshift thread on my nightshift.
>>47791655
How's your night shift going. Keep us posted if anything creepy happens.
>>47791777
I just watched Cleverman and that cat can do magic and has regeneration and visions...
>>47772966
Are the PCs working somewhere or are they running around the town?
>>47791633Specifically, Lloigor waged war on its sibling, Zhar, and was victorious -- but at a price. The wounds it sustained in battle forced it to retreat from material space to recuperate. Lloigor is still healing even now, millennia later, and subsists entirely upon the psycho-emotional energies of sophonts. It can interact with the material world only through the use of avatars called 'lloigor' -- note the undercase L -- which serve as the psychic vampires that siphon the energy that the wounded god feeds on. The lloigor are attracted to places with powerful emotions, or echoes of powerful emotions and, as they feed, they become more distinct. In some cases, they can possess the living and twist them into a monster (this is where the various mythos beasties come in; they're people possessed and changed by lloigor to cause more psycho-emotional disturbances for them to feed on).
>>47791936
Two will be employees at the local Gas & Go, and three will be various customers there at the station before Weird Things happen.
>>47792105
gas station regulars, or people like me who'd go there specifically to bug their friends on the off hours?
>>47792127
Could be just a few average Joes caught unawares when things start to go down.
>>47792127
I'm running the game in Dread, so that's really up to the players -- except for one of them.That character is a thief who went to the station to rob it. His major question will be whether or not his gun is loaded.
>>47792181
Interesting. [Spoiler]Will the gun ever be useful?[/Spoiler]
>>47793250It depends on whether or not he's put bullets in it.
>>47793493
if it does have bullets do have them be actually useful, otherwise it will just come off as a dick move on your part
>>47793765
Oh, definitely!
>>47791777
Nothing creepy, just that i've come to turn down any offers on buyinh selling or investing in drugs with the same tone as when i inform customers that we don't have customer toilets, and no, you can't leave your gun here in insurance either. Then there's the junkie wrestling at 5:30 in the morning, serbs covered in bullet wounds and burnscars, cappucino blood rituals, homeless schizo women leaving cryptic notes about passerbys and screaming at the man with the white eyes, whoever the fuck that is, al i know is that he's appearantly a psycho asshole. Also most of my tips come from strippers and female bartenders.
This neighborhood is a fucking freak show.
>>47772966
Watch some Twilight Zone. Very similar to the type of horror Night Shift is trying to convey. You could always get ideas for different scenarios and how to build tension out of otherwise normal situations.
>>47797252
most Horror Anthologies would be good for this, the animes Yamishibai and Kagewani are really great examples of this
Hello, management?
This is Steve from the day shift. The night shift left a complete mess again. No, we can't open like this. There's some blood and the center aisle shelves are bent. Okay, I'll get started on that, but we are going to need the plumber, the electrician, and an extra container for all the trash.
>>47788335
I really love that feeling of... "dark mysticism..." that Kentucky Route Zero and Night Shift share.
This thread made me discover Kentucky Route Zero and thank you very much!
>>47800330
This thread reminded me that Kentucky Route Zero exists. I got it when it first came out, so I've got a couple more Acts to play through. I'd love to play a tabletop game set in such a supernatural setting.
>>47800387
Working on it...
>>47800405
Oh? Do tell!
>>47800419
I think the setup could work for a party plot, kind of a roadmovie into surreality. They're all on the 65 with seemingly mundane lives, possibly together, but in different cars works as well. Then things take a turn and they end up at the gas station, starting a chain of ghostly and surreal elements that lead to a destination but undercut the entirety of perceived reality.
I'd love to do it without walls. Of course initially there will have to be a reason to go to the gas station, and a strong lead to motivate players to investigate further. But maybe there's a way to not just end the map but instead simply avoid getting NPCs involved. One approach could be to simply make sure there's always a compelling reason to come back, another clue to follow up on, linked to an emotional investment of the character. Then make anything beyond the scope of the scenario bland and automatic, never provide challenges outside. Maybe even narrate anything beyond without playing it out.
Symbolically any weapons or tools the players gather from outside are just representations of their psychology. They don't improve their chances, they just shape the challenges encountered.
>>47800507
One thing I was thinking of, along these lines, was to create a setting that was a lost highway or an apocryphal state that never really existed, a darkly mystical place that the PCs would happen to drive into unawares.
In such a setting, I'd use treat Gas Station like a "magical item shop" at which the PCs could acquire various artifacts and bits of equipment to help them on their journey. There would also only be one Gas Station that either follows the PCs as they drive, or acts as a sort of hub that the PCs keep returning to due to the anomalous nature of the highway.
>>47800670
>Lost Highway
The Old Interstate Highway is long, rundown and found accidentally by unwary travelers taking a wrong turn and missing their destination. The Highway is littered with abandoned cars and the evidence of other lost motorists long gone before the PCs' arrival.
>Apocryphal State
The northern half of the State is densely forested mountains, and the southern half of the State is deeply flooded swampland. The Old Interstate Highway runs East to West through the middle, but has fallen into disrepair, necessitating that the PCs take State Roads through the Mountains and Swamplands to the North and South to complete their journey.
>Gas Station
In their travels, the PCs find themselves continuously stumbling upon the same Gas Station staffed by one lone, dark-haired highschooler. She sells most anything the PCs might need, from gasoline to roadmaps to lucky rabbit's feet, and may be prodded for bits local lore and cryptic advice. Any NPCs that the party finds may show up or be sent to the Gas Station.
>>47801165 >>47800670 >>47800507 >>47800419 >>47800405 >>47800387
Should the idea of a Kentucky Route Zero inspired setting have its own thread? Would the idea take off on its own, or should we just keep this bread moving?
>>47801379
We'll make a thread when there's something to write about. Those "Me like thing" threads tend to lead nowhere.
>>47801413
Fair enough.
>>47772966
Always nice to see these threads kick up.
>>47801842
Hey NSW Anon, always good to see you kicking around too!
>>47801165
Sort of half Pacific Northeest, half Deep South. What would such a state be named?
>>47803921
Franklin?
>>47803921
Georgia? That's kinda what the state is like, if less extreme
>>47803921
Jefferson, the state that never was
>>47804100
>>47804101
For some reason I'm partial to the name "Acadia."
>>47804141
OP here; I was going to set the game in northern Pennsylvania, among the old coal-mining towns.
I'd like to thank everyone for contributing; I really appreciate it!
>>47804312
Always glad to help out and talk Night Shift. The new ideas I've gotten from the thread are a bonus.
>>47804552
It seems really cool and this is the first I've heard of it. I'll need to check out the 1d4chan when I get home, my group's been wanting to play some Dread
>>47805015
There's a lot of great fluff and crunch to be found in the Sup/tg/ archives:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?searchall=Night+Shift
>>47805158
Thanks anon, I'll be sure to check it out
>>47801884
I am eternal. I come bearing gifts-- the pilot episode that I wrote while me and TV Anon were working on a pitch.
>>47805617
Whatever happened to TVanon? Did anything come of his attempts to get a show made?
>>47805749
Despite our efforts, no, nothing happened. Last I heard TV Anon might be heading a low-budget/student film version of something.
>>47805749
Nobody handed him $100,000,000 and a slot in the lineup 2 years from now.
Bummer.
>>47805617
Hey, I remember Monday, did you finish tuesday?
>>47804141
Just remember to choose Bae over Bay.
Alright guys, day shift ends in 5.
All yours.
Did the night shift last night. Tons of weird shit in the apartment building I work in. Garbage rooms filled with random nonsense junk, including one fully dressed dummy sitting on a chair.
One night there was a single lamp plugged into the wall in one. Another night there was a huge crate full of costumes, gone the next morning.
Don't even get me started about all the weird shit I see in the parking garage basement level.
>>47812582
I guess what I mean is: normal shit can be weird in the right context.
That one tenant / regular? no body has seen their face, or can really remember what they look like.
Man this box is fucking heavy? Open it up and there's nothing inside...
>>47807873
I have but haven't edited it-- and I'm loathe to share something which isn't final.
bump
Day shift back again. No events, apparently. Everything's tidy.
Reserve overtness for the climax.
Stick to a set of rules, no matter how bizarre, otherwise people might just walk or Baron Munchausen you.
Recruit individual players to work at cross purposes or betray the party.
Killing people or removing them from the game works once.
Spooky music and badly adjusted temperature can do a lot.
Keep the players rushed when acting, or too much time with insignificant details when building tension, slowly dribbling additional details as they discuss
Don't let them have explosives, real weaponry, or the in game ability to make either.
>>47820754
>There is an old sawed-off shotgun secreted under the checkout counter.
>The PCs grab it in their time of need, only to discover that there are no shells.
>>47772966
Don't be afraid to make players pull more than once. As someone who's entire group is apparently fucking amazing at jenga the game gets old when we've somehow managed to go nearly the whole game without a fall.
>>47822755
On a stable surface with sober players you can get 25-35 blocks moved before the damn thing topples. I suggest pacing your scenario accordingly and having the players used to pulling a lot of blocks even before things get tough.
Don't be afraid to kill one, or two, there's ways to keep them in the game. They can just never go near the tower again, just like the GM. Use them as opposition, comic relief, or dramatic polarization. They can haunt the survivors as ghost, chase them as zombie, distract and mislead them, or simply play on until it fits without the ability to pull blocks. Get creative. Cater to the player's inclination.
Ways to be 'dead' in Dread
>Benign ghost trying to help the party but not always able to communicate.
>Infected but not turned yet.
>Suddenly convinced the other side must triumph.
>Out. Go play XBox.
>Fatally hit but still struggling on.
>Astral projection out of dead body which can only be seen by the opposition, not the party.
>Guardian spirit who can make challenges easier with a budget earned by making challenges harder
>Now in the computer (Tron), book (Neverending Story), or TV (Poltergeist)
>>47822755
>RS
>Mith pl8
>gestures menu
Changing server.
>>47820754
>Don't let them have explosives, real weaponry, or the in game ability to make either.
lame, obviously they shouldn't have immediate access, but it should be possible to find or make something that works in that regard, whether using them will be practical or even a good idea at all is another thing entirely though
>>47822705
OP here.
I'm using this.
>>47822755
I've been planning to make players pull twice, or even three times for particularly dangerous, difficult, or stressful actions.
Tire iron bludgeon
Spray can flame thrower
Tater cannon bazooka
Mentos in Diet Coke cap nades
Gasoline vapor bomb
