| Nightlife | |
| Designer: | Bradley K. McDevitt, L. Lee Cerny, Walter H. Mytczynskyj |
| Publisher: | Stellar Games |
| Date: | 1990, 1991 (2nd Ed.), 1992 (3rd Ed.) |
| Genre: | Horror |
| System: | 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]
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.
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).
Daemons are extra-dimensional creatures who are trapped on earth. They resemble humans with small wings and horns and red-tinged skin, but have an Edge which allows them to change their shape in order to blend in. They are vulnerable to flint, holy relics, and fire, and can be controlled through magic rituals. They are usually bound to the contract their summoner used to bring them to the materiel plane, which can be used to compel their service; destroying the contract or completing its terms frees them. Like Animates, they Drain life force by touch.
Inuit are Native American spirits native to western North America. They are easily recognizable because they suffer a compulsion to dress in an extremely flamboyant manner. They are vulnerable to fire and repulsed by holy relics. Like Animates and Daemons, they Drain life force by touch.
One of the most common races of Kin, vampyres Drain by feeding on the blood of their victims. They are vulnerable to sunlight, running water, garlic, wood, fire, and holy relics. They can also infect humans, turning them into vampires, and must sleep on a bed of earth taken from the land in which they were buried.
Humans who have been infected by another werewolf and gain the ability to transform into a wolf. Werewolves do not need to Drain in order to survive, but can still do so in order to heal their injuries. They do this by assaulting humans and inflicting pain and injury. Werewolves are especially vulnerable to fire and silver.
Wyghts are hideous creatures who cannot pass for human without a great deal of disguise. Their hair is white, and their skin resembles that of a gray, emaciated, dried-out corpse. Wyghts can be killed by fire, sunlight, and silver, and create more of their kind through infection, like vampyres and werewolves. They Drain their victims by touching them and leeching away their youth, causing them to age prematurely.
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.
Skill levels are generated during character creation by rolling 20 d10. The pool of points are split among the selected skills. which are divided into the Combat, Unarmed Combat, Archaic, and General skills groups. Combat is the use of melee and ranged weapons and Unarmed Combat is the use of combatives styles like Street Fighting, Martial Arts or Wrestling. General Skills cover modern trades and abilities used in the (then) late 20th Century. Archaic skills are anachronistic trades and abilities that are not actively used nowadays (like Manuscript Illumination or Charioteering), that were either learned by the character in the past or acquired by them in the present day as hobby skills. Etiquette: Kin and Knowledge: Kin are Archaic group skills that are rare for non-Kin to possess. The Luck attribute can be used for when a character wants to use a skill that they don't know, using the skill's governing Attribute plus (Luck รท 5) to get the result. Having a skill at level 20 means the character is "competent" and doesn't need to make a successful roll to perform it.
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.
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.
The primary Attributes are Strength, Dexterity, Fitness, Intellect, Will, Perception, Attractiveness, and Luck, and are rolled on 4d10. They are similar to those of Dungeons & Dragons, with Fitness being equivalent to Constitution, Intellect being equal to Intelligence, Attractiveness being equal to Charisma, and Will replacing Wisdom. Luck is a catch-all attribute for when the game master isn't sure what attribute would be best used in a skill test. Then there are secondary attributes created by using the primary attributes. Survival Points are calculated by adding the character's Strength and Luck attributes together. They are depleted daily to feed the Kin and are replenished by Draining Herd. The Hand-To-Hand damage modifier (HTH) is calculated by dividing Strength by 7. It is applied in unarmed or armed melee combat.
One of the ways in which players are encouraged to play Herd-sympathetic Kin is the use of the Humanity score. Beginning players start in character creation with a base Humanity of 50, and can only attain a maximum Humanity of 100. 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 or increased levels in current 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.)
. J. Gordon Melton. The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead. Visible Ink Press. 1994. Detroit, MI. 1st. 0-8103-2295-1. 852 .