Nightlife (role-playing game)

Nightlife

Nightlife 2nd Edition Rulebook cover. Concept and design by Freda Cerny, art by Pamela Shanteau.
Designer(s) Bradley K. McDevitt, L. Lee Cerny, Walter H. Mytczynskyj
Publisher(s) Stellar Games
Publication date 1990, 1991 (2nd Ed.)
Genre(s) Horror
System(s) percentile die based

Nightlife is a horror-themed role-playing game first published by Stellar Games in 1990. Many of its innovations would be seen in later games such as White Wolf's World of Darkness.[1]

Contents

Overview

Nightlife is set in New York City in the then near-future of the 1990s. Players take on the roles of monsters, divided into several races and collectively referred to as "Kin," living secretly among human society, whom they refer to as "The Herd."

All of the Kin have certain attributes in common. They are immortal unless killed by special methods, immune to most diseases, and cannot be photographed. Most importantly, Kin have the ability to steal the life force of humans in order to survive, through a process called Drain. The Kin are divided into a number of groups, called Factions, who vary in their attitude toward humans and their willingness to be discreet about their activities. Players are generally encouraged to play Kin who prefer to defend Herd as well as Kin society, and to not kill mercilessly or wantonly.

The nightlife of Kin in New York City is one of the primary foci of the game. Kin spend much of their time preoccupied with subculture music and fashion, and the game's lists of equipment and clothing available to players assumes that they will adopt underground, cutting-edge, and designer styles. The city contains several important nightclubs which are run by and for Kin. In addition, a large part of the game is the constant streetfighting between members of various Kin factions.

Races

Characters in Nightlife must belong to one of several races of Kin. Each race has access to different Edges and suffers from unique Flaws (see below).

Edges and Flaws

Kin have various superhuman powers called Edges. A character's Race determines his Beginning Edges, with which he starts the game, and also his Racial Edges, which he does not possess automatically but can learn later. Some Edges can be learned by any Kin, regardless of Race.

Kin also suffer from Flaws, supernatural weaknesses determined by their Race, such as a vampyre's vulnerability to the sun. Flaws do not change throughout the course of play.

Factions

Kin are divided into a number of factions. While there are numerous small factions, gangs, and splinter groups, a handful of Factions commands the loyalty of most Kin.

Game mechanics

Nightlife rules use only ten-sided dice, or d10s. Rolls are usually made by adding one of several Attributes to a Skill, and then attempting to roll less than the total on a percentile die. In some cases, several d10s are rolled and then added together, as in rolling attributes and skills at character creation, or gaining new skills and bonuses at the end of each adventure.

One of the ways in which players are encouraged to play Herd-sympathetic Kin is the use of the Humanity score. As a character's Humanity drops, he begins to suffer the effects of his Flaws more severely (such as a werewolf taking even more damage from silver than normal). New Edges cost Humanity to purchase, and raising the character's Humanity by performing humane deeds causes the character's abilities to increase at the end of each adventure. (Nightlife, unlike many role-playing games, does not use experience points.)

Supplements

References

  1. ^ Melton, Gordon (1994). The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead (1st ed.). Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 852. ISBN 0-8103-2295-1. http://www.visibleink.com/title.php?id=41. 

External links