[a / b / c / d / e / f / g / gif / h / hr / k / m / o / p / r / s / t / u / v / vg / w / wg] [i / ic] [r9k] [cm / hm / y] [3 / adv / an / cgl / ck / co / diy / fa / fit / hc / int / jp / lit / mlp / mu / n / po / pol / sci / soc / sp / tg / toy / trv / tv / vp / x] [rs] [status / ? / @] [Settings] [Home]
Board:  
Settings   Home
4chan
/tg/ - Traditional Games


File: 1395790139095.jpg-(156 KB, 1920x1080, ss_4a6d76555cdd9b2e004002(...).jpg)
156 KB
156 KB JPG
>What is the Night Shift?
The Night Shift is the collaborative brainchild of a number of Anons on /tg/. It is both a setting and a game system for running a surreal horror-game, and most recently, several Anons are in the process of writing a prospective pitch for a television show.

In Night Shift the PC's, known as Attendants, are employees during the titular night shift at a little old gas station on the lonely side of nowhere. They must balance the drudgery of their mundane duties and responsibilities with the uncanny, preternatural, supernatural, and paranormal events which seem to happen at this particular gas station.

>Duty Roster
There are currently three Night Shift related projects in the works. The first and most basic is a series of lists and tables that a GM can use to run a game of Night Shift in their system of choice. Each item on the list details an event or NPC that fits the theme of Night Shift, and posters are encouraged to contribute to this database.

The second project is a *World derivative being built specifically for playing Night Shift, which includes custom Moves and a resource management system. Any posters who feel like play testing this system with their group are ENCOURAGED to do so, as our game designer NSW Anon is in GREAT NEED of feedback in order to proceed.

The third project is a script for the pilot episode of a Night Shift television show being written by TV Anon and NSW Anon, to be pitched in the coming weeks to television and movie contacts both Anons have at their disposal.

Feel free to make your own contributions to either of the first two projects, and tune in for updates on the third!
>>
File: 1395790294092.jpg-(12 KB, 240x212, 1385462640955.jpg)
12 KB
12 KB JPG
>>31066308
This looks incredibly interesting. Is there a development blog or twitter or tumblr I can follow?
>>
File: 1395790367233.jpg-(35 KB, 400x392, 1384986635051.jpg)
35 KB
35 KB JPG
>>31066308

>Resource Links:


>Resource Links
Thread 1:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/30729189/

Thread 2:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/30745096/

Thread 3:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/30763437/

Thread 4:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/30796508/

Thread 5:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/30817437/

Thread 6:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/30889424/

Thread Seven:
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/31000979/

Random Events and NPCs:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjU0A8WsCtScdEw0RVZIQ0pwanBfTjdxZ1cxWWtQVUE&usp=sharing#gid=0

Rough Rule Set:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wku2x8PJoB0vMfAxHaEY0X06bkpLVmsDGnrWduBx7wc/edit

IRC Channel:
#NightShiftWorld on Rizon
>>
You forgot to put "Playtesters Needed" in the title.

And on that note, long live the new Night Shift thread!
>>
>>31066555
I'm sorry! That was definitely an oversight on my part!
>>
TV Anon here, and I'm encouraging everyone to join the IRC channel!

Seriously guys, come chat with everyone else.
>>
>>31066645
Please, join us. It's getting lonely in here.
>>
>>31066645
>>31066859
List Anon here. I'd really lie to chat with you all, but I'm a little tied up right now. As soon as I can make it over I will.
>>
>>31066394

Its bothering me more than it should that it goes from "Thread 5" and "Threat 6" to "Thread Seven".

Not ok, guys, not ok.
>>
>>31066366
Nope. Entirely /tg/ home brewed and fresh. Get it hot.
>>
>>31066980
That right there comes from me copying and pasting bits and pieces of the previous opening threads together. I accept complete responsibility for that sloppiness. My sincere apologies.
>>
>>31066645
>>31066859
>>31066918
As a complete newfag to IRC, how would I get on there?
>>
>>31067129
Go here
>http://irc.lc/rizon
and put #NightShiftWorld in the channel box. Set your nickname, and you're golden.
>>
>>31067129
1. Go to: http://www.rizon.net/chat
2. Create an Handle
3. In the Channels field type: #NightShiftWorld
>>
>>31067129

You can alternatively download one of the free IRC clients out there. I use mIRC.
>>
Take a look and give criticism to the short story in progress.

ALSO, if anyone has an idea they want written about, feel free to ask me and I'll write something up for you.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f9t6hWrvSoJxq4seho0SrYNqxiN2njzel8jrTt0QUk8/edit
>>
TV Anon here.

I'm completely new to IRC and I keep getting a message about the server being restarted, so it tells me to refresh the page. But once I do that, it won't let me back in.

Is this normal?
>>
File: 1395793777735.jpg-(119 KB, 375x500, Green-Anonymous.jpg)
119 KB
119 KB JPG
>bathroom graffiti
a better version of the employer manual.

We need some Threats that can be dealt with by reading the right bathroom graffiti or drawing the right magic circle in the bathroom.

And you DON'T want to clean all those graffiti, you never know how many of those are sigils and wards that keep Things locked.

And those Day shift assholes just had to destroy part of a sigil.

Picrelated is how Management appears on all tapes.
>>
>>31066645
i need to isntall IRC.
and now i need to go to sleep.
>>
File: 1395793943616.jpg-(106 KB, 1286x439, IGNOREME.jpg)
106 KB
106 KB JPG
>>
>>31067741

Yesssssss. This. This is what I want. This will be on the cover.
>>
>>31067741
Lovin' it!
>>
>>31067741
next we need a gif.
with bad working lights.
>>
>>31067741
As the anon who requested it in the IRC, thank you.
>>
File: 1395795089364.jpg-(140 KB, 1600x864, 1394635262144.jpg)
140 KB
140 KB JPG
V2
>>
>>31068099
There we go, less "shit" and more "doom is nigh".
>>
>>31068426
Exactly. I love it. Thank you!
>>
File: 1395798264632.jpg-(60 KB, 405x405, 1395694125417.jpg)
60 KB
60 KB JPG
>>
>>31069072
Great for the Employee Handbook.
>>
Here's a few plot hooks I've come up with, hopefully they aren't shit

>While cleaning the men’s bathroom you notice a beautiful woman in the mirror washing her hands and checking her appearance seemingly unaware that you can see her. Suddenly a masked man kicks in the lady's room door and buries a hatchet into the woman’s head. He looks into the mirror and points at you, making a throat cutting motion. If anyone checks the lady’s room there are no signs of an attack happening at all

>While taking out the trash, you catch some kids spray painting strange esoteric symbols on the station walls. They run off before you can catch them. When you come back out to clean off the paint, the symbols look like they've been burned into the wall with acid

>All of the lights in the station blow out at once. When the emergency generators kick in moments later it looks like a bomb went off inside the shop. Possibly due to a bored poltergeist or something much more sinister.
>>
What if instead of a green phone Management contacts the station via an old fax machine that they have to make sure NEVER runs out of paper?
>>
File: 1395799968307.jpg-(61 KB, 405x405, 1395694125418.jpg)
61 KB
61 KB JPG
>>
>>31069528
I like he idea of a fax machine being used for something, but the Green Phone is something that's become ingrained in our collective imaginations as being associated with the Management.
>>
File: 1395803608033.jpg-(50 KB, 405x405, 1395694125419.jpg)
50 KB
50 KB JPG
>>
>>31070882
Whoever's making these, these are absolutely great!
>>
>>31070882
>colorless photo
>phone still green
It's the little things.
>>
>>31071024
You can't escape the green.
>>
>>31070882
Do the numbers on the dial go up to 10?
>>
>>31068099
As much as I loved how NIGHT SHIfT Kind of set up the bizarre sense of humor this world has, I agree with anon. The "Nigh" is much better. Now to make the lights flicker and shake.
>>
Has anyone been compiling this stuff in one place, rather than having to trawl through the threads? Or, better yet, filtered through for the good stuff and organized it into a more presentable format?
>>
>>31071742
>>31066394

>Random Events and NPCs:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjU0A8WsCtScdEw0RVZIQ0pwanBfTjdxZ1cxWWtQVUE&usp=sharing#gid=0
>>
So, I'm a noob to the project and shit and still reading the threads, but have we had much input from actual night shift gas station attendants?
>>
I assume this isn't for large parties? Like 2, maybe 3 players? A lot of gas stations only have 1 person in the building for the night shift.
>>
>>31072056
I could see working in a large group every now and then with something like "Due to a huge scheduling fuckup that Management didn't feel like fixing you're all working tonight." You wouldn't be able to do it every session but it could work if you have some irregular players.
>>
>>31071920
There were a few over the first couple of threads. They talked about the odd people that turn up at night and the uninteresting tasks that they normally have to do during their shifts like cleaning the place, checking expiry dates, putting the trash out, measuring the fuel reservoir, putting on the morning coffee before the peak hour rush, and painting lambs' blood over the doorframe during the full moon.
>>
>>31066308
New to this

How about a rediculously buff, 7-foot-tall "person" with a crudely drawn face, a hat, and a heavy jacket on? He speaks in a barely understandable, deep English accent, and always buys some random bits and baubles whenever he comes in. Starts to get angry and possibly violent whenever anyone gives an inkling of knowing that the drawn face isn't real.
>>
>>31072438

Like drawn onto a smooth skin surface with makeup? Or more like paper bag head?
>>
Some world-building-paradigms are starting to come together for my personal version of this setting.

The gas station's location happens to be next to a fey/alien/extraspatial highway, all sorts of weird shit from all sorts of weird worlds just passes through here. Sometimes the weird shit gets lost or happens to do something that affects the gas station by accident; more often, though, it just wants 3 bags of Doritos and a 5th of vodka.

If any of the strange creatures passing through realize that an Attendant realizes that they aren't human, they will try to kill you. Just straight-up slash-your-throat-and-run, right then and there, and most of them are really good at it (I will kill more than one PC to drive this point home if I have to, I don't mind fostering a CoC-esque attitude of PC-death-as-humor). However they have a comically low standard for 'passing as human' and generally don't understand just now not-strange this particular world is.

The PCs job thus is to be polite, serve the customers, and pretend nothing strange is going on, no matter what actually is going on.
>>
>>31068099
>>31067741

The flickering letter should be the "F".
>>
>>31067679

Silly anon, Management never shows up at the store. They deal only with the General Manager, and you hardly ever see his ass except when he picks up the receipts or the Day manager or Night manager need to get chewed out. The GM keeps a handy separation between the employees and the Management.

>>31069451

I like the third one, it could be a way to fuck with the players when they get a little smug about how they've got all their duties completed early. Maybe add in some evil laughter and a ghostly wind.


>>31072056

Management likes to keep things overstaffed. 4 people or so. No reason! Well, maybe it's because the crime rate is so high. Yeah, that sounds good.
It's true that they have had a lot of "turnover." So yeah, the night shift gets a large number of employees. Don't question it!

>>31072438

I dunno. Kind of similar to the suggestion that then spawned the Grey Man.

>>31073285

Oh hey, I suggested an "invisible second road" a couple threads back. I like your take. Do you have the station crooked, so it faces both roads equally?
>>
>>31075182

It doesn't line up with 3-dimensional space, it's more like, the area around the gas station is where our universe intersects with a high-traffic zone for things moving between different universes. It's not plainly visible, more like something they can figure out over time.

Sometimes I'd have a ghost-bus full of rowdy weird-things pull up beside the gas station and then drive off into thin air once they've all gotten snacks. That happens to. But the 'ghost road' is also my explanation for ALL the weird/spooky shit that happens in and around the gas station, making the security cameras start bleeding or making terrifying shit appear in mirrors could just be Something's equivalent of throwing your fast food trash out the window or heckling a Mexican as you drive past.
>>
/x/! get /x/ in here (the few nonshitty /x/philes left anyway)
>>
File: 1395819628103.png-(543 KB, 759x770, X_creepy_note_list.png)
543 KB
543 KB PNG
>>31075645
Samefag, i bring this from my homeboard, hope others can pitch in as well.
>>
>>31075645

We don't need ideas so much as playtesters right now. The Night Shift World project is basically stuck waiting for playtesting data.
>>
>>31075675

This is gold for bathroom graffiti, thank you.

>>31075678

I know it sounds crass but some of us don't really care about the game system, and the pilferable ideas these threads are bringing out kick ass.
>>
File: 1395826831828.pdf-(380 KB, PDF, the night shift.pdf)
380 KB
380 KB PDF
>>31075678
>>31076056
are people aware of this? i fished it in a pdf thread.
Also people were saying about merging the rules and events into a pdf for easy playtesting download. Any reports on that?
>>
A number of Anons have volunteered to playtest, but must wait until the weekend to do so. Unfortunately, I myself am not currently in a position where I can get a group together to test, otherwise I would do so.
>>
what other Anons have said in thread is true, some people prefer to use their own well known system and just adapt it into the Night Shift World. So ideas are needed as much as system data.
>>
File: 1395834843638.jpg-(69 KB, 375x500, image.jpg)
69 KB
69 KB JPG
>A group of skeletons in campy, hairmetal style rocker outfits carrying guitars pull up in a resprayed schoolbus with "Party like its 1909" painted on the side, with a bunch of skeleton groupies
>The come in and start trashing stuff/planting semi-dangerous pranks, rockers-in-a-hotel-room style
>If given consistently good service or if anyone actually gets hurt by the pranks, skeleton Manager comes out of bus, tells everyone to knock it off, buy their stuff and get going
>Hands players a pile of money, for exemplary service/outstanding putting-up-with-this-horseshit skills/to cover the damages
>Optional: GMs play "Fight for your right to party" during this encounter
>>
wouldnt WoD system work well with this?
>>
>>31077293
It works very well.
I'm the mapfag from the previous thread. I ran Night Shift as nWoD mortals, with Morality tweaked to a Sanity mechanic.
The players spent most of the game hiding from the horrors/the ghostly coworker and trying not to go crazy.
Skinwalker only wanted the hotdogs. He's cool. Just unlock the doors and let him in, bro.
>>
>>31077377
If they just spent all night hiding and didn't do their job, didn't they fail?
>>
File: 1395836261397.jpg-(52 KB, 473x709, metal.jpg)
52 KB
52 KB JPG
>>31077275

Yes.
>>
>>31077293
>>31077377
I'm unsure if play it as dungeon words or nWoD.

I'm pretty familiar with nWoD but I could enjoy using a new system and acquire data for the NSW anon.
>>
I would like to propose some events.

One of the PCs gets a minor injury and needs a bandaid or something similarly accessible. The First Aid kit however has some strange items inside: (fill in options)

The green phone fucking rings. The green phone never rings. Who is it? (fill in options)

Looking at the clock, its only 30 mins till shift ends! what could possibly go wrong in 30 mins?

The day shift (those assholes!) left some donuts with a note "jenny's birthday. Saved you some". Who wants to eat the first?
>>
Trying to make a list of the things the station has so i can make a rough sketch of the place

outside
1-4 gas pumps
air compressor
dumpsters
big sign
automatic vendors

inside
desk with till/phone
message boarrd
magazine shelves
snacks shelves
oil shelves
freezer walk-in
freezer mini
radio
1-2 toilets with sink and mirror
storage room (for what? how many?)
cleaning closet
mechanic's garage
toolboxes
smokes rack
liquor rack
manager's office
break room (not sure)
calendar
A/C unit and vents
VHS room and tape cabinet(not sure if room)
Cameras (not sure)
Safe
Hotdog Machine
Arcade Cabinet
Fire extinguisher
Shotgun (under counter)

What else am i missing? Could be nice for plot areas/items
>>
When someone does DEATH comes to get it.

DEATH brings with HIM a pic black sack where she stuffs the dead or nearly dead bodies.

HE also loes kittens.
>>
File: 1395838676316.gif-(976 KB, 500x486, 1390975198567.gif)
976 KB
976 KB GIF
i have a folder of creeepy stuff.
anyone want me to post?
>>
>>31077739
better upload it
>>
File: 1395838938185.jpg-(72 KB, 750x1060, 1394148362637.jpg)
72 KB
72 KB JPG
>>31077759
>>
File: 1395839007534.gif-(935 KB, 400x300, 1391480569815.gif)
935 KB
935 KB GIF
>>31077768
it is that I fear it will turn out in one of thos threads with pics but no discussion.
>>
File: 1395839072560.jpg-(954 KB, 1280x960, 1390855818480.jpg)
954 KB
954 KB JPG
>>31077774
>>
File: 1395839153704.jpg-(53 KB, 823x1011, 1390366309577.jpg)
53 KB
53 KB JPG
>>31077781
the Lamps outside the station comes to live and start moving around , interacting with each other.

better not get near them.
>>
>>31077739
upload it on rapidshare !
>>
File: 1395839275055.jpg-(844 KB, 1590x1088, 1339625261885.jpg)
844 KB
844 KB JPG
>>31077785
serial killers from popular movies start coming in your store to buy:
Friday 13 a machete
Girl from the ring a Telephone to call her victims ecc.
>>
File: 1395839345766.jpg-(74 KB, 800x600, 1340547390817.jpg)
74 KB
74 KB JPG
>>31077792
the Grey man under their sunglasses.
>>
>>31077792
we don't want to use copyrighted material in case TV Anon makes it.
>>
File: 1395839407279.jpg-(113 KB, 590x409, 1377555839391.jpg)
113 KB
113 KB JPG
>>31077798
the Station is not what it seems.
>>
Scenario:

Three cars, full of normal people. All three headed to different parties. All three are bringing the drinks. They all bought ice out of the box.

Good for them. The Bastards.

Now there isn't enough to keep it asleep.
>>
>>31077698

Outdoor icebox. Most have them.
>>
What's with all the namefagging? Not even TV anon or NSW anon needed to do that.
>>
>>31077781
this is how the room to the Management looks like.
>>
File: 1395839764261.jpg-(221 KB, 660x449, 1377565980941.jpg)
221 KB
221 KB JPG
>>31077832
Dunno, does it hurt you?
>>
File: 1395839834303.gif-(2.85 MB, 320x240, 1386624448175.gif)
2.85 MB
2.85 MB GIF
>>31077837
hands
>>
So the day shift manager (bastard) "forgot" to mention that the coffee machine was broken.

Now you're out of coffee untill the repair man comes round. And he doesn't do night jobs.

But that's alright, isn't it? I mean, it's not like anyone ever buys the coffee anways...
>>
>>31077505
>what could possibly go wrong in 30 mins
i lol'd

some first aid kit stuff: healing potion,leeches,bloodletting instrument,assorted colorful syringes, http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/e-sermons/butcher.html,red pill,jump-start cables,incense,witch doctor mask
>>
File: 1395840114444.jpg-(545 KB, 1400x930, 1377593904704.jpg)
545 KB
545 KB JPG
>>31077843
random visitor
>>
File: 1395840180244.gif-(1022 KB, 500x500, 1391135304212.gif)
1022 KB
1022 KB GIF
>>31077865
curretnyl we have TOns of small events.

We need to combine them in a couple of BIG events with several manifestations and DOOM at the end.
>>
>>31077837

Yes.
>>
>>31077872

The Doom idea is connected to NSW. I'm sure we could put together some Threats and such for use in the final product, or to be included with the playtesting packet (whenever he finishes that).
>>
File: 1395840298050.jpg-(336 KB, 1280x800, 1382817215644.jpg)
336 KB
336 KB JPG
>>31077872
big shadows walk on the horizon.
>>
>>31077872
>>31077879
im all for that, but the google doc with the events is huge and chaotic. If we could export it to something more manageable or even work there, we could organise it a bit more. Not saying no to raw data input tho.
>>
File: 1395840508022.jpg-(154 KB, 600x842, 1331274895203.jpg)
154 KB
154 KB JPG
>>31077879
I mean we should combine stuff to make it feel like a long complete adventure, otherwise we have a shit tons of hooks but no conclusions.
>>
>>31077908

That's... sorta the point? The list is a resource for GMing. If you want to write Night Shift adventure modules or the like go right ahead. But the mandate for the list seems to be precisely that- hooks for a GM to drop into this particular setting.
>>
>>31077872
Well, the obvious thing would be:
>you left too many plot threads unresolved, so the entire station gets sucked into the nether-verse and/or the weirdness, no longer confined to the station, starts spilling out into the mortal realm
>>
List Anon here. Things have been hectic this week so I haven't been able to contribute or chat on IRC like I would like, but I'll try to step up my game. In the meantime, have another list:

As an Attendant, most of your time is likely to be spent in the Station's convenience store. While containing no more than four or five aisles of merchandise that one can oversee the entirety of from behind the checkout counter, the store isn't exactly a small room, and certainly holds its fair share of mysteries:

1. The scarred, stained linoleum floor of the convenience store is a standard grid of white(-ish) tiles interspersed with colored squares for decoration at regular intervals. Each night, the color of those decorative tiles is different.

2. Just like in any supermarket or convenience store, the glass freezer doors are magnets for handprints and nose prints of all kinds. In the Station however, all those smudges have been made from the inside, not the outside.

3. One of the decorative colored floor tiles breaks the careful grid pattern the others follow. This tile: moved there while you weren't looking, marks the exact center of the store, hides a secret cache underneath, infuriates Anons who sees it, etc.

4. Doors routinely reverse the direction in which they swing on the fly, or change position in a non-Euclidean fashion from night to night.

5. A toppled box of alphabet cereal is found on the floor, the cereal pieces spelling out: a cryptic warning, a Shakespearean quotation, one Attendant's name over and over, etc.

6. One of the beat up microwaves in the self-service coffee and baked goods alcove has an old, old "Out of Order" sign affixed to it and laches up with lots of clear tape. While the microwave is actually in working order, using it will also heat up every food item in the store. If left running long enough, canned goods will start exploding.
>>
>>31077950
>you still gotta go to work the next night
>>
File: 1395842087673.jpg-(216 KB, 900x1391, 1333424919824.jpg)
216 KB
216 KB JPG
Employer of the month
>>
File: 1395842318875.jpg-(147 KB, 451x700, 1330134746785.jpg)
147 KB
147 KB JPG
we can have an abbandoned rail track near the station.

Sometimes Trains form other times and spaces come out.
>>
File: 1395842395234.jpg-(220 KB, 989x742, enhanced-buzz-wide-18848-(...).jpg)
220 KB
220 KB JPG
A sand storm come by and shatters the windows.

Now the sotre looks like this and you have to throw away all that sand. And stuff that is hiding inside that sand.
>>
>>31077991
7. While the convenience store looks like it has four walls, it really has five if you take the time to walk the perimeter and count them. The fifth wall is dominated by the Employee of the Month memorial, and why the hell not, the green door to the General Manager's Office.

8. The round mirrors installed in the corners by the ceiling routinely show: a clown standing right behind you, the ghost of the 80s Assistant Manager tidying up at the opposite end of the store, all the shelves completely bare, etc.

9. When all the Attendants have to leave the store at the same time, they always return to find all the aisles turned another 90 degrees.

10. Behind the checkout counter and beside the door to the break room is the lighting panel for the convenience store. This panel has far too many switches of far too many different types. Experimentation reveals that a certain combination of switches flipped on and off can: toggle gravity on or off, can set the lighting to disco-mode, can open a secret passage, can explode a random customer or Attendant, etc.

11. The old fans spinning lazily on the ceiling seem to have synchronized or changed directions.
>>
>>31078124
i see recurring characters in the event table. The 80s manager, the 80s assistant girl and the grey man. something must have happened back there to force them to reappear constantly
>>
The gas station does in fact have two customer toilets, one for men and one for women. But only the womens' toilet key is ever handed out to customers, male and female. The mens' toilet door is locked, bolted, barred by several planks nailed to the wall, and chained up with a rusty chain. A slightly more careful inspection shows the door bulges slightly outwards. The topic is avoided by everyone.
>>
>>31078124
Additionally, the fourth wall is decorated by a small graffiti reading

>sup /tg/
>>
>>31077698
outdoor toilets'd be better, more possibilities for weird shit
>>
>>31078195
The 80s Assistant Manager and the 80s attendant girl are one and the same character. She started off as just another weird event for the table, a girl you didn't know but who knew you, come to "relieve" you and help out in the night shift. She was later combined with another spooky piece of fluff, a highschool girl from the 80s who'd won "employee of the month" for three straight years, and who'd apparently sacrificed herself to save her fellow attendants. Later she was made an Assistant Manager by some anon, and some writing and brainstorming was done that turned her into some sort spooky guardian ghost in a cheesy old uniform who helps the PCs when they need a hand.
>>
>>31078346
Also was some talk about her leaving some kinda journal or guidebook, but we can probably combine that with the awesome hand-me-down Station Employee Manual idea from the last thread and say she made a lot of revisions during her tenure.
>>
>>31078324
Gas station bathrooms in general are great settings for weird shit.

Multiple entendre
>>
File: 1395844136993.jpg-(31 KB, 482x380, 1331279446592.jpg)
31 KB
31 KB JPG
>>31078346
I think I should introduce a NPC to my oneshot, you know to guide the players.

!. He is just another worker on the station but with a lot of experience.

2. one of the random shit that passes through the store the first night and players seems to enjoy gets attached an dstays with them.

3. the 80s girl ghost


what would you advice anons?
>>
>>31078369
i feel the girl and the grey man who wants his candy can be the "good guys" in a sense that they are in the same situation as the PCs one way or the other. Will we ever meet the manager (besides the call for advise)? reccuring characters are good. They give you a sense of security (to promptly trample on a later stage)
>>
File: 1395844560489.jpg-(34 KB, 1600x900, no time to stop for gas.jpg)
34 KB
34 KB JPG
You sometimes get a car racing by, followed by several cop cars. Happens once a moth, sometimes twice. The guy really seems to like Rammstein, but he never stops for gas.
>>
>>31078381
What about an ex-employee that pops his head through the door on his way past? Maybe sticks around for a few hours or something. Have him talk all cryptic and in riddles
>>
The graffiti in several places in the station change all the time, but no one ever notices this. Attempts to become aware of this within the setting are absolutely futile.
>>
There is an old black woman who, every Tuesday at 10:46 AM, hobbles into the station and purchases spearmint gum, a small coffee, and a bagel. She's quiet, never smiles, and smells faintly of lavender.

No one really talks about her. Your manager told you the same as everyone else did: she's always here.

When you checked the supply ordering sheet, you found that exactly one week prior to your hiring, the store had run out of bagels.

You never did ask what happened to the last attendant.
>>
so how long exactly is the night shift? what hours?
>>
>>31078399

>i feel the girl and the grey man who wants his candy can be the "good guys"

Have you been reading these threads? That's been the assumption since, like, the second or third. The girl is unambiguously helpful, and sad. The grey man is ambiguously helpful, but also possibly dangerous.
>>
>>31078498
Sounds too similar to the Grey Man's shtick, to be honest.
>>
>>31078381
I think that the ghost girl is probably best used in the past-tense or in the background.

She saw it all as an AM, and got shit done if her Employee of the Month record is anything to go by. I'd use her as creepy setting flavor, letting her advice get passed down from the Station's past, and making her a mostly silent guardian of the Attendants in the Station's present.
>>
File: 1395845782171.jpg-(17 KB, 424x480, totally qualified.jpg)
17 KB
17 KB JPG
>>31078566
I haven't read the threads.
>>
Every once in awhile I see these threads devolve into creepypastas and 2spooky events when really, as a resource for gaming, everything should have some provocation for the PC's. Things that simply happen - uncanny, creepy, weird phenomena - are fine, but ultimately window dressing. They can establish tone, but do nothing to advance anything in-game because they don't require action.

The Grey Man is one of the few examples of a passive event which is useful because there are somewhat clear consequences if the PC's don't serve him his candy.

On the other hand, as weird as it is for the tiles to change color... what do the PC's do about it? Is the game about them dealing supernatural occurrences, or standing around going 'gee that was odd'?

Like I said, there is definitely a place for Creepy Things That Happen, but it might be more useful to keep in mind that the focus of all this is to provoke and continue play within a game.
>>
>>31078663
Is Dungeon World guy still working on his homebrew?
>>
>>31078663

Night Shift World is built around the premise that you don't want to work at the shitty, supernatural gas station but need the money.

You get a good ending for your character by crossing your Threshold, a bad one by getting fired by losing too much Management, and a worse ending by succumbing to a wendigo attack or dying to a Threat.

So when you say 'if we had something to work with like rules' I don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
>>
>>31078690

I'm still here, yup. Currently putting together the playtesting packet. Waiting on several playtest reports.

If there is something you'd like to see in the Night Shift World ruleset, speak up, I always like input.
>>
>>31078719
playtesting packet! do want do want do want!
>>
>>31067215
me being an idiot
it says
Cannot join channel (+i)

what should I do?
>>
>>31078719
I don't have a physical group to playtest with, but I could do a game over skype with some of you guys if you want.
>>
>>31078663
>>31078625
I think that this is where that other poster's "Endgame Threats" or "Closing Time Threats" or "Two Weeks Notice" could come in. Bigger threats that have portents spread across the entirety of the campaign, a mystery the the players can feel coming, and can prepare for in order to feel like they have some agency within the Night Shift setting, that their minimum-wage struggles mean something:

1. A.C. Prime Hostile Buyout
2. Leap Day Storeroom Thing Escapes
3. Prescheduled End of Days
4. 1950s Style Alien/Soviet Invasion
5. Face off Against The Mirror Station Across The Highway
>>
>>31078859
>1950s style soviet invasion

we red dawn now
>>
>>31078859

That's all well and good if the point of your game is that their minimum-wage struggle has meaning. If the point of your game - as Night Shift World assumes - is that you're just trying to survive until you can get the fuck out...

I think the current Threat system can handle 'campaigns', though. Characters come and go, but players remain so they could see the real scope of things at the station.

All you'd really need to do is create a 'Threat' for which the 'Portents' are themselves Threats. At the end of the day Threats were shamelessly stolen from Dungeon World's 'Fronts', and like their poppa are really only organizational tools.
>>
>>31078895
Oh, I'm certainly not insisting that a Night Shift game need to be played in this way or that way particularly. I apologize if it came out that way.

All I mean to say is that for those Anons, like the above, that are more drawn toward plot-driven campaigns, the Night Shift setting and the Night Shift Worlds system have more than enough flexibility to accommodate their play style.
>>
>>31078988

Agreed. I'll be sure to include that in the 'How To Run NSW' part of the final product. For the playtest, I'm more interested in the numbers so their use of Threats or the theme of their particular game isn't really on the radar.
>>
It is an interesting setting, still here's some criticism and nay-saying that needs to be adressed in order to overcome it.

The problem with the setting is, it does sound a bit gimmicky, considering the main motivation for the characters is supposed to be "I'm a working poor on the paranormal frontier". It begs the question why the characters should be giving a fuck about the campaign because they "just work here". Why would they keep on working, why would they bother to show up the next night when the campaign shifts into a serious gear?
>>
File: 1395849476177.jpg-(38 KB, 800x567, bambastarde_by_culpeo_fox(...).jpg)
38 KB
38 KB JPG
>>31079030
Money.
they ignore all the threats they can ignore, but they need to keep show up untill they gain enough money.

For example they signed a contract with management and you don't want to tear a contract with Management.
>>
>>31079030
>Why would they keep on working, why would they bother to show up the next night when the campaign shifts into a serious gear?
Because they have no other options. Even at minimum wage, where else is a washed-out deadbeat supposed to find work in Lesser Bumfuck, Nowhere?

And IIRC, NSW-anon has a mechanic where eventually, an Attendant will reach their limit of able-to-deal-with-weird-shit, NOPE out and quit.
>>
>>31079030
That's a valid criticism, and I liked the way you put it: "working poor on the paranormal frontier."

I think that an Attendant's motivation for staying might be a combination if factors:

1. Attendants are already on the fringes of society in many cases: downsized and down on their luck, deeply in debt, too young to hold down a "real" job, too old to reenter the modern workforce, or otherwise undesirable and unhireable anywhere else.

2. The Attendants are not alone in their struggles against the supernatural. If we are going to give the Station a deeply paranormal past, and we are going to portray the Station Employee Manual as a scrapbook/guidebook/spellbook hybrid, and we are going to include "good" NPCs, the characters might be given just enough support to feel like they can overcome what the Station throws at them, whether or not that's true.
>>
>>31079030
I've worked shittier jobs.

I'd rather work at Haunted Shitfuck Station than work for Amazon during the holiday crunch again.
>>
>>31079166
> Even at minimum wage, where else is a washed-out deadbeat supposed to find work in Lesser Bumfuck, Nowhere?

That's really his point.

You need a goal. Starting with "You're fucked and poor, have fun" is necessarily reliant on gonzo gimmicks to make it fun.
>>
>>31079182
>>31079166
Here's one problem I have with the concept. If all attendants by necessity need to be so useless that they aren't good for anything but being gas station attendants, then the number of interesting character concepts that can be played goes down drastically, along with the potential for long term interest in this setting for a group.

There has to be something more, for the sake of player engagement and making interesting characters who have a goal aside from scraping by day to day, cause that's not a very compelling motivation. The idea to give the attendants more of an active role in combating the supernatural has potential.
>>
>>31079166

At least as far as Night Shift World is concerned, this is entirely accurate. The assumption in NSW is that characters will not stick around all that long. Like CoC, people will die or Nope.jpg out. If you're lucky, you get out with a paycheck.

The narrative is focused on the gas station, and those who work there are merely the lens by which the players are exploring that narrative. If you get attached to Billy the Pump Monkey the same way you did your Pathfinder Barbarian, Maulsavage the Murdiferator, you're doing it wrong.

But that's just my perspective, and I'm a huge faggot.
>>
>>31079182
I'm more concerned about a reason for the players staying than the characters they are playing.

David Lynch movie in a Gas Station is fine and dandy, don't misunderstand, but as it sits now there's really no clearly defined end game.
>>
Also, if the writer anon is around, I'm compiling a critique file for your short story that I'll upload later.
>>
>>31079182
Fair enough.

You might in fact turn this into a game mechanism of sorts, have each character sheet contain a faux part of the hiring test or whatever, containing a question like: "State in one sentence why you will give this low-paying job all you got:" (Put in proper corp english, my english is not that good)

Answers could be stuff like:
>I got fired from all my previous jobs and dropped out of everything I ever attempted, but this will be DIFFERENT.
>I am 52 and got fired. I'm not getting any other job soon.
And so on. That way you might make sure the characters start off with the right kind of attitude, the all-in mentality that's a big part of being a protagonist.
>>
>>31079251

I've mentioned it in some of the earlier threads, but I think Night Shift as a whole lends itself to the episodic and short-form format. I don't ever plan on running extended campaigns with myth arcs.

The nature of Night Shift as it stands is kitchen-sink, so each GM will have a different endgame. AC Prime has been proposed as one. I ascribe to the notion that Stop N' Gas sits at a paranormal crossroads; a kind of safety valve so all the weirdness doesn't blow up across the rest of the world.

All that is easily manipulated by your choice of Threats and events, cherry-picked from an extensive list. Want it heavy on supernatural elements? Go for things like wendigos and goatmen. Want to play up conspiracy? AC Prime, Men In Black with munchies, and aliens seem to fit. Want the campaign to be about ghosts? We've got plenty of them too.
>>
>>31079301

That's a stupidly good idea.
>>
>>31079314
There's nothing wrong with that, but player agency needs to be focused around a communal goal or idea. It's difficult to organize a game in which players have the ability to affect their environment AND have the environment be utterly hostile to their existence.

The narrative, short-term model is ideal. I agree with that. The issue is this: You have your group. You organized the game. You've got your characters, your station (random-roll gas stations would be amazing), and your goal.

...now what?
>>
>>31079346
cont.

I look at Fiasco in these situations. The goals, conflicts, and other crazy stuff is created by the players as they play. If we're going for a complete out-of-the-box play experience, we're going to need a whole bunch of potential plot points, adversaries, goals, notes, ideas, and whatnot.

I really like where this is headed. The more I think about it, the cooler it gets.
>>
>>31079251
This setting is taking its cues from things like Clerks and John Dies at the End. If you've seen or read either one of those, you know there isn't an end game. Its people caught up in their weird, mundane lives, with no defined goal except get through the day.

I can't imagine this game being a campaign, although other anons may disagree.
>>
>>31079243
Wasn't there a concept in the early threads that basically amounted to...

>I need [amount of money] for [some minor life goal], and once I hit that point, I can get out of this place.

So you're not putting up with the supernatural just to get by. You're putting up with the supernatural to pay for a semester of college, or get the van fixed so the band can start touring again, or literally anything other than continuing to fester in that haunted backwater stretch of nowhere.

So maybe that's the motivation you're looking for?

And maybe I'm just a sentimental fool, but the camaraderie between co-workers isn't something to be overlooked. Their lives may be on the fast track to nowhere, they may have to deal with supernatural nonsense on top of it, but at least they won't have to deal with it alone.
>>
>>31079417
>you know there isn't an end game

Thematically, sure.
>>
>>31079424

That led to the Threshold system in NSW. At the end of every shift, a PC gains their 'Paycheck' as determined by their job. Generally ranges between 1 and 3.

Once your Paycheck exceeds your character's Threshold, they're gone. They paid off the debt, they can afford to move to Seattle, they got their car fixed etc.

It will be up to PC's to decide exactly what their Threshold represents, but mechanically its a means to ensure characters cycle through without them having to die or quit for mental health reasons.
>>
>>31079224
you were in prison and now you are free at the condition you must have a stationary job a for a week.

the only one willing to offer you work is Gas n Stop
>>
Idea stolen form Kill Puppies for Satan.


At the first game after people made the characters, make them stand up one at a time and tintroduce themself:
-Hi i'm John.
>Hi John
And I work at Gas'N'Stop. I work here because bla bla.

Alternatively like a good prop, you can make your players sign a contract with Gas'N'Stop, the pens used to sign must be RED.
>>
another intresting mechanic is from Fate of the Norns.

During a campaign you chew through a lot of characters, but with each characters your player stats increase.

For example:
Your first guy was a janitor and he died a horrible death. His jacket was left ebhind and was passed to your new character.
Now this jacket has a magic power random or related to the death of previous owner. Like random objects (sometimes useful in that moment) appears in it pockets.

Or for example after you had one character leave safetly the Gas'N'Stop your next PC can have slight magic powers, like seeing auras, or knowing a couple of magic rituals.
>>
This sounds pretty damn fun and I might write a little story once I fully read the details... I'm on my phone so I cant read the previous threads, but how'd you guys come up with this idea?
>>
So It's /tg/ doing Welcome to Nightvale, yes?
>>
>>31079983

that's what I thought, at first as well...
>>
Can I put "Heresy Monthly" on The Rack?
I realize that we already have a reference to WH40k, but I just like the thought of a "Heresy Monthly" magazine.
We could have a Tau doing a sexy pose on the front.

Also you guys realize there's a Night Shift IRC room? #NightShiftWorld. C'mon.
>>
>>31080067
Wooooww. Project confirmed for shit tier.
>>
>>31067679
>>31077275
>>31080067
I've highlighted the worst posts in this thread so we know what to stay away from
>>
>>31078625
Most of the Wierd Thongs can become gameplay. Some, like the Boardgame, can become entire shifts worth of adventure. The things on the table are all potential hooks for a creative GM, and lesser things like the tiles changing colour can just be used as indicators. The more minor things start going wrong, the more you know something is About To Go Down.
>>
>>31080278
*Weird things.
>>
File: 1395855493596.jpg-(61 KB, 550x550, 1301504676374.jpg)
61 KB
61 KB JPG
>>31080273
one of thos post was mine and the second I was going to include in a my game...
>>
>>31080067

Mere reference isn't helpful, and adds nothing to the setting.
>>
>>31080327
if it makes you feel better the only thing i hate in that post was the MANAGEMENT LOOKS LIKE ANON LOL, the graffitti stuff does seem like a good idea. The skeltons just seem like LOL WACKY SUPERNATURAL AMIRITE
>>
>>31079030

This was covered in previous threads. The nearest burg, the town of Nowhere, is economically depressed. There are NO jobs around, and people are desperate. Getting a job way down the road at the Stop'N'Gas is a life saver for these people.
It also means that players will have to face the occasional robbery attempt
. Attendants that don't get awakened after being eaten by a swarm of giant rats will likely have been "killed in a robbery attempt" when tomorrow morning rolls around.
>>
>>31079953

Some guy came in to /tg/ and said "I have a cool idea for a campaign", and it all took off from there.
>>
>>31080449

>I have a cool idea for a campaign
>Cue the lists
>What system would you use for this?
>Someone starts making a system.
>This kinda thing would make a decent TV show
>Someone decides to pitch it as a pilot.
>>
>>31080469
>Anonymous image board
>TV pilot gets picked up
>Some random person claims credit
>No recourse
>>
>>31080493
If you don't want your ideas to be picked up by random people, better not post em on an anonymous image board.
>>
>>31080493

If you aren't writing the pilot, and if you don't have the industry contact that TV anon has, then why SHOULD you have recourse?
>>
File: 1395856752448.jpg-(1.44 MB, 2592x1456, IMAG1219.jpg)
1.44 MB
1.44 MB JPG
>>31066308
Such is life on the night shift.
>>
>>31079983
Welcome to Night Vale is definitely one of the inspirations that a lot of Anons are using, but there are some distinct differences, primarily the fact that what's happening at the Gas Station isn't considered "normal" by the Attendants, unlike how Night Vale's weirdness is all peachy by Cecil.

>>31079953
>>31080449
This is pretty much right. Some Anon started a thread a couple weeks ago with the basic premise of a self-contained horror game set in an isolated little gas station, and /tg/ has just run with it, creating a whole setting around that Gas Station, its mysterious Managers and the Attendants and Patrons that make up the Night Shift.
>>
File: 1395857070874.jpg-(120 KB, 656x1000, 1395778817084.jpg)
120 KB
120 KB JPG
I propose we start making content for the workers manual, tips, tricks, plot fluff, phone numbers, etc.
>>
>>31080493

So? I'm the guy who named the setting, named the station, fluffed the Grey Man and Day Shift Randy, and some more besides, and you know what? It's not a big deal.
The Night Shift threads were a collaborative project and we were all anonymous. If it goes somewhere cool, that's great. I don't need "recourse" or credit or anything like that. I'm just happy to help make something neat.
>>
>>31080541
More about it being a collaborative effort. Not the place to discuss it thouhg.
>>
File: 1395857422738.jpg-(127 KB, 656x1000, 1395857070874.jpg)
127 KB
127 KB JPG
>>31080627
>>
>>31076495
more info needed on pdf related
>>
>>31080724

If you're familiar with the game Fiasco, it is a playset designed to be used with Fiasco. Pretty well done, too. It is a roleplaying game, though not in the sense most people think- Fiasco is designed for generally self-contained narratives. It plays out halfway between a boardless boardgame, and a roleplaying game.
>>
>>31080757
oh, did not know that. Thank you.
>>
>>31080627
>>31080705
These are great and I agree
>>
File: 1395858654591.jpg-(288 KB, 764x1138, 1337666592593.jpg)
288 KB
288 KB JPG
OK playtesting data coming through!

Used a company of 3 players and me, as well as pic related for system, running a short action/horror game (with an added Sanity pool to decide when a PC has had enough shit and saves the last bullet to himself). I rolled 3 events from the hueg events chart and tried to use em in a one shot scenario. IN MY OPINION the game is just that, good for a one shot as a break from the epic campaign you are playing in Pathfinder, DnD or w/e.

Now, we played a half horror half action session where that weird college kid that is "sensitive" senses abnormal shit going on while the other two pretend they dont see anything and just want to get on with their shifts. It broke down (after a healthy 2 hour session) to the PCs barricading themselves to the storage room huddled around whatever light source they could muster because fuck the darkness is hungry and killing off demonspawn till dawn. Quite intense even without stats for anything and the subtle creepy references had people on edge (till shit got real).

All in all, i would recommend it for a nice brief session with your bros. Turn it into a horror story or an action film, whatever your like
>>
>>31081003
Awesome to hear! Could I ask what events from the table you chose? Any choice moments you'd care to share?
>>
>>31081003

Playtesting data- oh its not for NSW...

Sounds like an awesome session, though. It seems to confirm that the list works best as a means for crafting shorter arcs and episodic one-shots than unified campaigns.
>>
>>31081003
Sounds really fun! I myself would inject a healthy dose of humor.
>>
>>31081120
of course

i chose event 87 (thermostat keeps going crazy while outside gets crazier), event 207 (men unfamiliar with modern stuff) and i cant remember the number but all lights start to die and the darkness that follows hosts evil things in it

As for choice moments, the DMNPC being the first to get eviscerated and the PCs witness the g(l)orious mess, which signals that shit got real. Also, trying to find their way inside the gas station with the last flashlights left because its geometry changed where the darkness enveloped and the final battle as the flashlights start to run out of juice, the guns start to run out of ammo and the swings start to lose their power. One glimmer of sunlight from the east window brings hope and courage for the last push and shove and finally the dark dissipates. Good luck explaining to day shift (those assholes!) how the store has a new layout without a single speck of dust.

>>31081147
erm, what kind of data does NSW need? i merely recorded the session
>>
>>31081290

Haha, no worries. Night Shift World needs people to playtest it. You used a different rule system so don't worry about it.
>>
>>31081341
the reason i didn't use the system provided is because i wanted a more action/combat oriented session and i wasnt sure i could do with the core one. But i will report in with more data once a system is more stable.
>>
>>31081290
Detail requestor here, thanks for responding! I feel that the way you describe your group's experience perfectly encapsulates what the Night Shift setting is all about. It sounds like you all had a good time too, which is the best reason for running anything.

You've done the Management proud, thank you!
>>
>>31081469

I figured as much. No worries.
>>
One sidenote i could provide from the session is because my players came prepared to play horror, they expected to have to deal with creepyness from the get go. Its best to have them do menial tasks at the station for a bit then insert a few abnormal happenings from the corner of their eye rather than going in-your-face paranormal. For example, Management left orders to wash the pumps and clear the garbage from the back (among other things). The players expected shit to happen at both events, but only after they finished then pumps AND threw the trash did they notice the dark red stains forming a pool on the bottom of the garbage can. Keep your players surprised!
>>
>>31081542
That's a great point, and one if the draws of this setting, I think: the fact that not all the horror or weirdness is in your face, at least not at first. That the mundane and supernatural are commingled such that it keeps the Attendants and the players on their toes.
>>
>>31081003
Thanks for sharing!
How did character creation work in this case? You mentioned a college student being "sensitive" to the super natural, was that an actual mechanic you implemented or just a flavor/fluff piece for that character?
>>
>>31081707
both. If you check simple d6 it allows you to make up your own skills. So he played a "sensitive" kid (as a skill) so he got better results when trying to discern phenomena on the pre-shtf phase of the game. He boosted MIND attributed (see simple d6) and by using sensitive aura he could "see" things others couldn't. Easy target for early game, nearly lost all his Sanity in endgame because i kept passing him notes describing horrible things in the darkness only he could see (and some san deduction). Player enjoyed it.

Basically what happened in the station was that hell approached it (que thermostat going the fuck up while outside cold went the fuck down) then these "people" who wouldnt even recognize basic utensils (demons, who knows?) and finally the dark enveloping the station and changing its geometry (rooms randomized every 33 minutes) then demonspawn going berserk.
>>
>>31066394
>After the PCs managed to scrub all the protective arcane graffiti off the bathroom walls, this sign appears in the abandoned field across the highway.
>>
>>31079735
>the pens used to sign must be RED.
>Not GREEN
>>
>>31082170
HA
>>
>>31080627
My idea for the worker's manual would be having a part of it be for players, including some plot fluff, rules, etc. and a part for the GM (Manager) including events, portents, and GM related stuff.
>>
>>31082775

NSW anon here, I'm pretty shitty at layout, so I'm tacitly trying to find someone who would help with that when we get past playtesting into the final(ish) product.
>>
>>31082775
>>31083074
I really lament now that I'm an ideas guy and can't contribute graphically to this project aside from finding stock pictures.
>>
File: 1395868067296.jpg-(138 KB, 1068x1600, hgum.jpg)
138 KB
138 KB JPG
>>31082775
>>
>>31083449
>It's green
You glorious bastard.
>>
>>31083449
Fantastic.
>>
The thread has been archived with the others on Sup/tg/:

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/31066308/
>>
>>31076495
Thanks for putting that up. Glad y'all still like this little old thing. I need to run it with my group once I get some time with them.
>>
>>31083449
Thanks, thinking about compiling this into an in-universe handbook.
>>
I feel like a lot of really good discussion happened in this thread, especially pointing out that a lot of the stuff on the doc is more flavor dressing than an actual plot hook or adventure idea. At the very least a plot hook should contain some antagonistic forces, and things like #9, #46 and #65 are all interesting, but they don't really have anything for the players to solve. These are better as isolated events than as adventure hooks.

There are also others that rely on other events to be interesting. Stuff like the Wedding that needs to be protected only really works if something else is going on. I know it's not hard to roll or pick an extra scenario, but that kindof thing doesn't really scream "Hook" to me. It seems like a complication.

I could make a new document, with my idea of what a decent one hundred would look like. I like the document as a mishmash of ideas, but as an actual role playing aide, it's pretty hit and miss and scattered at the moment.
>>
>>31084634
Also, what would need to be in the Employee handbook? I know that the rules would need to be but what else should be in there?
>>
>Welcome to our family here at Gas 'n' Go. As a new employee, here are a few things to remember.

>Always be polite, professional and precise. A helpful employee makes a happy customer!

>Work as a team! Your coworkers are there to assist you and you're there to assist them!

>A clean store is a happy store! Don't wait until the last minute to clean up. Customers value a tidy store, so take the time to mop and organize the shelves.

>Stay awake! A napping coworker looks lazy to the customer and isn't helping his or her coworkers.

>Give everything 100%! Why do the bare minimum when you can give something your full attention? Be a hardworking and valued employee!

>Don't fucking use the phone unless you have to! Last resort only, and be ready for the consequences if you do! -Michael

The last one is scribbled in
>>
>>31084704
Random hints to things that may or may not come up in the game.
Instructions from Management.
Notes from Randy.
Pictures of various objects one might find in a gas station with notes on how well they can be used as improvised weapons.
Notes from late owners of the same manual which are blotted out by blood.
Survival tips for if the laws of physics stop working.
>>
>>31084850
I wonder what happened to Mike.

I should call Management and find out.
>>
>"Yes, management, we have a problem, we found a note from an employee named Mike-Carl, was his name mike?"
>"His name was Mike."
>"His name was Mike, he doesn't seem to be here, any idea what happened to him."
>"Mike no longer works with us."
>"Well, gee, what a-He hung up on us."
>"What a conundrum."
>>
>>31086305

>"Hey, Management? We can't find Mike and normally I wouldn't bother you but- Carl, would you say that the mannequins all look like Mike?"
>"I'd say all the mannequins look like Mike."
>"Carl says all the mannequins look like Mike."
>"Termination of employment is never without cause, but any written notice of that termination may be appealed in writing within thirty days."
>"Well, see, we shouldn't even have mannequins- oh, they hung up on me. Carl, see if you can find a clipboard, I think we need that mannequin's signature for this."
>>
I can't login the IRC server, so I'll just say it through here: I'm playtesting the shit outta this, dudes. Will get back to you guys on that.
>>
TV Anon here.

Ya'll should join the IRC.

Just saying.
>>
So, I thought I was going to throw the rules parts out entirely, but now that I'm reading NSW's doc it's making me scratch my head. I can't tell if I like or dislike the way your most common tasks are reduced to wrote mechanics with a set number of outcomes and a static chance of success. I think I'll rewrite the mechanics entirely for my own purpose. But the general shape of them, the kinds of things you roll for and the way the rolls turn out, is very good. I'm sure that's too vague to be helpful but I'm still chewing it over.

Has NSW gotten any basic editor's feedback? In terms of like, "It's clearer if you put this part before that", "I don't know what this sentence means", etc, etc?
>>
>>31087756
A small amount, but not a whole lot. I suggested he put a bit more of the basic DW rules in there for easy reference and some others suggested some things too. I'm sure it couldn't hurt.
>>
>>31086753
<A few minutes earlier>
"You know... That creeps me out."
"What do you mean?"
"These things, they look eearily like Mike."
"...or Mike just looks like them." *Shrugs*
>>
>>31086976
What exactly is the IRC?
>>
>>31088114
It's a chat room
see
>>31067215
for how to get on
>>
>>31084850
>>31086631
>>31086753

Love you guys
>>
>>31088143
Shit. This is way harder than it should be. I'll stick to the threads
>>
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqMIZYn8RGlqdGhPYmJnOWttNlZsNE5wVnI4TTZsZHc#gid=0

Take a look at the format I set out and suggest which hooks could fit in here. The best of the best only please
>>
So, picking up Ben&Jerries and Hot Pockets, I asked the clerk down the street what the weirdest shit she's seen has been. Basically just crackheads and unmedicated skitzophrenics, but:

-A man walking around the store talking about aliens, and talking to invisible aliens
-A man entering the store with 1 shoe on. When "No shoes, no shirt no service" is explained he counters that the voices told him to take one of the shoes off and that it was very important
-Same guy occasionally chases cop cars or tries to direct traffic
-A guy stealing 1 log from one of the bundles of firewood kept outside, wrapping it in a blanket, and talking to it like it's his baby
>>
>>31088946
>Some guy who came in and asked what the weirdest thing he's seen is.
>>
>>31089048

lol
>>
File: 1395884592290.gif-(27 KB, 290x189, 735.gif)
27 KB
27 KB GIF
>>31089048
>>
Well done everyone.
>>
>>31088918
This looks much nicer. The only thing I'd add is the idea of "Portents", an idea laid out in the NSW doc.

But in general, I think this document is much more useful for actual playing than the main doc. Great work anon.
>>
>>31091446
I'm still adding to it, I want /tg/s input on what they'd like to see on this one. Threats big enough to take up the whole night or a good portion of it. Hopefully we could stick it in the back of the document as the "official" 1d100 night hooks.
>>
>>31088608
Just go on the website, make up a name, and go to NightShiftWorld. It's three steps.
>>
Hrm... a group of people show up and begin to worship the station. In addition you could have them refer to the pcs as priests/priestesses. They might be able to direct the worshippers and get them to help out around the station.
>>
Anyone got any maps of a gas station?
>>
The Google doc can be made into 100 main hooks, 100 random events, 100 background events and 100 items in order to fit the massive raw input.
>>
>>31093813
That's almost exactly what I'm working on right now.
>>
>>http://www.docstoc.com/docs/11139862/North-Chatham-Gas-Station---Proposed-Building-Floor-Plan for a random gas station layout
>>
>>31093840
Can I help somehow?
>>
>>31093891
Go through the documents and the old threads and find your favorite adventure hooks. The kinds that are unique, interesting and could take up a good portion of the night,. Tell me what they are and as long as it's not too similar to any already on my document it will be added.

Alternatively, go to the document and think of twists or solutions or ideas for one's that have already been put down. Try to keep these twists as something that could be seen as almost two similar but distinct encounters if the twist is used over the others.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqMIZYn8RGlqdGhPYmJnOWttNlZsNE5wVnI4TTZsZHc#gid=0
>>
>>31093937
if i may ask, could you create additional sheets for items/random events as well? i would like to work with items for a bit.
>>
>>31094178
Sure, although I'm not gonna open my document for editing though to avoid stuff being deleted or tampered with on here. Just post the suggestions here.
>>
So, items

Toilet Manual: A manual about repairing toilets. While it would seem to be useful, the plumbing and diagrams talked about do not exist. Certainly a few laws of physics would have to be broken for them to.

Graveyard Shift Thrilling Stories: Bunch of old pulp comic books about how motel attendants fight with some crazy and horror shit in night shifts on a desert highway motel. They always horribly die in process. Characters vaguely resemble you and your co-workers. Situations are not though. Expect horrible deaths part.

An astoundingly large collection of old road maps and lost-and-found atlases. The roads, towns and states they depict are sometimes wildly different than those of the country as you know it.

Tomorrow's Newspaper: Occasionally will have articles about the previous night's events... sometimes while they're happening. Or even before they happen.

Cults Quarterly: Magazine received every three months about various cults, elder gods, and dark magics. No one ever buys one, but the issues seem to fly off the shelves.Each issue comes with the in-depth profile of a different Elder God, including their likes and dislikes, summoning and banishing rituals.

The Big Book of: A large book that seeming alters it's content arbitrarily, sometimes usefully, sometimes not. Last night it was Mythical Entities, tonight it's combustion engines.

To Serve Man: Cookbook on how to best prepare, preserve, and cook human flesh.(actually exists!)

CDs
Best Hits of 2017!
Inner Voices and You: A Guide
Chanting in Latin
Best of Exorcisms: Play it loud!
A CD of swedish folk music
assorted (and forgotten) vinyls of long dead artists

DVDs
Snuff Collection 3
Guns and Ammo magazine special!
100 DIY ideas for home improvement: Weapons edition
Collection of cheap porn DVDs
>>
>>31094911
cont.

Mysterious Keyring: A hefty keyring worthy of any highschool janitor, this artifact allows the players access to previously locked, or even nonexistant areas of the Station itself.

Janitor's Mop: Absorbs most liquids strange like alien-slug slime or demon blood, doesn't work too well on earthy liquids. Nobody knows where the liquid goes.

Chloro-Power: Cleans blood stains in an instant! Fresh Pine scented!

Crowbar: Useful for dealing with mundane and interdimensional threats, does nothing to supernatural objects or beings.

Shotgun: Under the counter, comes with box of bullets. Poorly maintained tho.

Can of WD40: A machine's best friend.

Slushie Machine: An old machine that only ever serves half frozen slushies. When the moon is right and the starts align though, it actually works! And damn are they tasty.

Hotdog Machine: Right by the door to the toilets. Stocked regularly, noone knows from who. Best not to try the mystery meat.

Fire Extinguisher: Because the last inspector wanted one so we wouldnt get a fine. Sorta usable, if only there wasnt a big padlock on the handle.
>>
>>31094949
Spitfire: Heavy-duty cleaning agent for most surfaces. May actually spit fire sometimes, so keep the extinguisher handy.
>>
Wow, this is so cool. I'd love to help in any way I can.
>>
File: 1395916354321.jpg-(77 KB, 600x800, img_2065.jpg)
77 KB
77 KB JPG
>>
morning bump. Ready to go to work
>>
File: 1395924506598.jpg-(807 KB, 2000x1500, image.jpg)
807 KB
807 KB JPG
List Anon here, at work, thinking up more quirks and weirdness, but wondering where I ought to direct my efforts. Heretofore, my lists have been primarily set-dressing for the Station and various portents that can be attributed to larger threats or stand alone as isolated oddities. What still needs to be done on the brainstorming, descriptive and organizational fronts? I'm afraid I'm of no use as far as play testing and graphic design.
>>
>>31095005

Two ways to help. Either help with the list, or help with NSW playtesting. Or come up with a new related project to Night Shift.

Welcome aboard, Attendant.
>>
>>31096865

NSW anon mentioned wanting to make premade Threats out of the lists, a couple threads ago. We could start putting those together and it might be useful for playtesters too.
>>
>>31097072
Alright, so essentially, codifying pre-existing Doc entries into Night Shift World format Threats?
>>
>>31097099

Yeah, that'd be great for playtesting. We could even put together a playtest 'adventure module' type thing if we wanted.
>>
>>31097179
Alright. I'll see how many I can do while working my legitimate day job.
>>
File: 1395928536626.jpg-(38 KB, 283x321, 1395857070875.jpg)
38 KB
38 KB JPG
>>
>>31097179
Playtest Anon from yesterday here. Gonna meet with my group today as well. I can run another game if you guys want and report back
>>
>>31097612

We always like hearing storytime. Are you using NSW or another system?
>>
>>31097690
used system related
>>31081003
>>
Out of the Frying Pan, into the Freezer

Threat: There's an unusual chill in the desert air tonight, so the Attendants decide to turn up the the thermostat a little. However, they soon find themselves sweltering inside the Station as the temperature keeps climbing, while the old thermometer by the gas pumps shows that the mercury keeps on falling outside. Worryingly, the thermostat on the wall now seems to be unresponsive.

Resolution: Fixing the Station's malfunctioning central heating and air conditioning unit will bring the temperature both inside and outside back to normal. The Unit is vast and complicated, and exists in a non-Euclidean labyrinth of pipe and ductwork behind the walls accessible through the scorching air vents inside, the freezing maintenance hatch outside, or the locked door at the back if the janitor's closet.

Weird Rating: 5+

Portents:
1. An old, tape-patched note above the thermostat warns Attendants not to change the setting from its prescribed 68 degrees.
2. Things are feeling nice and balmy inside, while a cold breeze begins to pick up outside.
3. The air vents around the Station rattle once, and the warm air stops momentarily. There is a bumping, backfiring noise, and a small puff of smoke from each vent before the best kicks on again.
4. Things are starting to get a but toasty now inside the Station. Basic tasks raise a bit if a sweat, and the freezers are slick with condensation.
5. Outside, a frost seems to be forming on the pumps and on the ground around the Station, and a snow-halo can be seen around the moon. The Gas Attendant is definitely going to need a coat of some kind.
6. Snow begins to fall outside as a blustery wind starts blowing, while inside the store the air develops a heat shimmer. Frozen items begin to melt, and Attendants will have to start removing outer garment to stay even the least bit comfortable.
>>
>>31098045
7. The convenience store grows as hot and dry as a desert at noon, and bottled items begin breaking on the shelves and in the freezers, spilling their contents everywhere. Outside, a full-blown blizzard has erupted, shrouding the Station in swirling ice and snow.
8. The Grey Man comes in for his nightly candybar, wearing an old fashioned greatcoat on over his usual suit. He amiably remarks on the unseasonable weather but otherwise seems unbothered by it. He is a touch disappointed by his melted candy, though.

Doom: Canned goods will start exploding on the shelves and gasoline will start freezing in the pumps. The heat differential between inside and outside will shatter every window in the station. Before the end of the Shift, conditions both inside and outside the Station will become lethal unless a Resolution is found.


I feel like I went a little too overboard with this and made it too "literary," but I'm not see what sort of "voice" we want for the final "General Managers' Handbook."
>>
>>31098071
This is a good layout. We can use it for the rest of the mini modules

Title
Threat
Resolution
Portents
Doom
>>
>>31098167
IIRC, it's copied from Dungeon World.
I dunno. Ask NSW-anon.

>>31098045
>>31098071
Nice work. Although I have to wonder why you made the Portents incremental. Are they supposed to be formatted like that?
>>
>>31098167
It's really NSW Anon's threat profile, sense ought to thank him for the template. I had considered adding a "Prerequisite Conditions" field for "If the Attendants mess with the thermostat" or a "Management's Hints" field for things like a much-folded blueprint of the heating unit stapled into the Employee Manual, but wasn't sure if they would be too much.
>>
>>31098270
I figured that the portents for most threats can happen in any order, but that the nature of this threat was that it is a situation that gets progressively more dire as the shift goes on, and that the portents would need to reflect a worsening condition instead of being randomized.
>>
>>31098045
>>31098071

I agree you've gone a bit literary.

Portents should be one of two things;
1) Something that happens or is happening which would require PC attention.
2) Something that happens or is happening which complicates what a PC is already doing.

Most of your Portents work with minor change to the language.

Portents;
1. Things are getting balmy inside, and chilly outside. The next patron notices. (will require interaction with unhappy customer)
2. An old, tape-patched note warns not to change the setting from 68 degrees. (complicates the resolution of the above Portent)
3. The air vents won't stop rattling, and smoke is leaking from a couple of them. (if that doesn't provoke PC's to action nothing will)
4. Inside is getting very hot, outside is freezing. -1 ongoing to all physical tasks unless Attendant's change attire appropriately. (complicates everything they're doing)
5. Pumps no longer work because of ice, freezer no longer keeps things frozen. -1 Management for losing the ice cream. (the Threat is really going after their resources, let's hope they figure it out soon)
5. It is snowing outside, and shimmering with heat inside. -1 ongoing to all physical tasks even with appropriate attire. (We're approaching critical mass. Resources sapped, complications out the whazoo.)
6. The Grey Man comes in for his candybar, undisturbed by the heat/cold but perturbed by the lack of candy, which melted. -1 Management and activate one of the Grey Man's Portents. (Pretty close endgame if the PC's can't figure this out by now.)
Doom: Frozen wasteland outside, heat of the desert sun inside. PC's must roll 'Secret Fate Of All Life' rolls each hour until they die or the Threat is resolved.

The first couple Portents generally let the PC's know what flavor of horror they're going to be faced with, and generally won't have mechanical consequences associated with them. They're a little grace period before the shit hits the fan.
>>
Aight, i shall try to make yesterday's play into the new form

[Title]

[Threat]
An unusual darkness envelops the station as one by one the lights go out, first from across the street, then at the pumps and finally inside the station. And something lurks in there...

[Resolution]
None. The PCs have to survive until dawn, the first rays of sunlight will dissipate the darkness and bring an end to the nightmare.

[Portends]
1. Strange men come in the station. They seem to be unable to understand how basic appliances work. Their speech is a bit slurred as well.
2.One of the attendants notices the world outside has gone considerably darker.
3.The radio is stuck playing one song over and over again. Damn radio!
4.As the darkness envelops the station, PCs notice the room layout changes frequently, getting them even more lost.
5.Guttural cries can be heard from the dark. Woe to the PC that gets caught without a light source.
6.Whatever is hiding in the shadows, it sure isnt quiet. Whispers, cries, animal noises, feet thumping the floor.
7. Guns seem to hurt whatever is in there. Yelps are heard with every shot fired or heavy swing.

[Doom]
The PCs run out of light sources, either snuffed from combat or out of fuel or what have you before the first daylight. The day shift (those assholes!) will find the station's room layout altered, and the PCs nowhere to be found. Probably gonna miss their paycheck too.
>>
>>31098308

If the Portents don't need to happen in a particular order, simply note it in parenthetical next to 'Portents'.

As it stands in Night Shift World, once a Portent is resolved you roll immediately to see if another one takes effect.

“I Hate This Job”
When you start a new shift at the gas station or resolve a Portent roll+Weird for one of the Threats
10+, A Portent activates, roll again for the next Threat. If there is no next Threat, create a new one.
7-9, A Portent activates
6 or less, You might be ok.

>>31098271
Management's Hints might not be a bad idea if you need something if the PC's go for the Green Phone.

By the same token, you can add in custom Moves associated with trying to fix the AC/Heating.

When you [try to fix the AC/Heating] roll+Int.
10+, It worked! You don't know how it worked, but it did.
7-9, You managed to fix it, but at a cost. You lose something valuable- a cherished memory, an arm, or the ability to smile.
6 or less, Immediately roll "I Hate This Job."
>>
So, on Incremental vs. Random Portents:
Maybe we could have different Tiers of Portents? Run out of Portents for your current Tier, things get kicked up a notch and the Portents get worse?
It would also allow you to tailor how quickly thing go from "mildly annoying" to GAME OVER MAN, just by altering the number of Tiers and Portents per Tier.
>>
>>31098319
Your edits are just what was needed here, thank you. I knew I was getting high on fluff and low on crunch. I'll use your example for my next ones. They'll be faster to write, but instill apologize for my slowness, what with actual "work" and all.

Also: what are your feelings on adding a "Managment's Hints" field? Unnecessary?
>>
>>31098398

It occurs to me that when I made "I Hate This Job" I rendered moot the previous idea of a 'Weird Rating'. Threats/Portents are only activated through "I Hate This Job", now, which happens after a Portent is resolved or a new shift begins. I've altered the doc to reflect this.
>>
>>31098434

As it stands, when you run out of Portents the Threat's Doom activates. This is generally an ongoing effect. Howling winds, raging spirits, etc.

So what you've described is already there, pretty much.

I suppose we could have some kind of ranking for how dangerous a given Threat is- maybe have Weird Rating be the number you add to 'I Hate This Job' rolls when dealing with that Threat. More dangerous Threats will have Portents crop up more often and hit their Doom faster.
>>
>>31098458

They're only necessary if you have specific hints you'd want the GM to use in their game- so if you have ultra specific fluff behind the Threat, and want the GM to be able to use that fluff when the players use the Green Phone, yeah, go ahead and put those in.
>>
>>31098513
It never occurred to me that you could continue playing after you'd hit the Doom stage. I had assumed they were just the "game over, bad end" epilogue for that particular Threat.

I'm still not comfortable with the strict linearity of incremental Portents, though, which was kind of the point of the tiers.
>>
>>31098345

Threat: There is an unnatural darkness and it is hungry.
Resolution: Make it to dawn.

Portents:
1) Strange patron visits the station, with slurred speech and an inability to work basic appliances.
2) It is getting weirdly dark outside.
3) The radio won't stop playing the same song on loop, and can't be turned off only broken. -1 Paycheck from whomever breaks it.
4) The geography of the station seems... off. -1 forward whenever a PC tries to navigate or find something in the station.
5) Something is crying in the darkness. Make an immediate "Secret Fate Of All Life" Move if a PC finds themselves in the dark without a light source.
6) The darkness is intrusive, and actively tries to snuff out light sources. If left unchecked it wrecks the station, -1 Management. See Special Move below.
Doom: The darkness is coming. See the Special Move below.

"The Hungering Dark"
When the darkness comes for you, roll+Con
10+ hold 3
7-9, hold 2
6 or less, hold 1 and roll "..."
Spend hold 1 for 1 from the following list.
- You do not drop what you're carrying
- The nearest light source still works
- You do not take 3 harm
- You are not dragged into danger
>>
>>31098530
When you put it that way, I does feel a bit unnecessary. Maybe "Management's Hints" is better suited to being a more general notice to prospective GMs reminding them to keep Green Phone call advice as terse and vague as necessary, and possibly touch on the topic of an in-game Employee Manual.
>>
>>31098624

Portents are things that happen directly or indirectly as a result of the Threat, and by their nature compound. By all means, make a Threat with non-linear Portent progression. That's just as valid, honestly.
>>
[Title]
Erase and Rewind

[Threat]
People and things begin to gradually pause and rewind for even longer amounts of time. Can the PCs solve this before getting stuck on an endless loop forever?

[Resolution]
The clock inside the Management office is stuck, and needs to be fixed. The longer the Attendants take, the longer the loops.

[Portends]
1. The closer it gets to the PAUSE, the louder the ticking the Attendants hear in their ears.
2. When PAUSE happens, everyone is frozen for longer and longer, but can still feel everything. The only thing you can do during PAUSE is breathe.
3.REWIND follows directly after pause. The PCs find themselves viewing the world like a vhs played backwards until they reach the last REWIND point. Time spent in both PAUSE and REWIND is lost.
4.What the PCs might notice is that the lost time increases geometrically. Soon, the waiting will turn from mere seconds into an hour, hours, even days followed by rewinding back to their previous spot.
5. Once the clock is found, the PCs will start seeing visions of themselves from past and future as the time stream starts to fluctuate wildly.

[Doom]
Unable to find the solution in time, starvation,thirst,fatigue will claim them, as they stand motionless but perfectly functioning while their bodies decay.

I tried /tg/, dont hate
>>
>>31098624
Maybe we could divide things up into "Portents" and "Signs." A Portent is a sequentially tiered-event related to the threat which carries with it a mechanical effect on the game play. Under each portent are a number of Signs, which carry no mechanical effect but help convey the proper atmosphere or hints and may manifest in any random order.
>>
>>31098738

I don't hate that idea. I really don't hate that idea.

Why don't you try giving us an example of a full Threat with both Portents and signs?
>>
>>31098738
voting for Signs as well. Good idea
>>
File: 1395938078903.pdf-(280 KB, PDF, Night Shift Player Guidebook.pdf)
280 KB
280 KB PDF
So here's the first edition of the Employee hand book, at the moment it's more of a proof of concept and I have to go back add the background, finalize the font, etc... But I'm putting this out here for suggestions, corrections, and for people to use for playtesting. Thecharacter sheets should be done by today or tomorrow and the GM guide by tomorrow, hopefully.
>>
>>31098810
[downloading intensifies]
>>
>>31098691
Close, but you need some mechanical effects to go with your portents.

Loud ticking gives you a -1 to all interactions with customers, for example.

I also think the "pause" idea is unnecessary. Having a "rewind" happen for longer and longer amounts of time seems more effective to me, ie. you make it to the manager's office, only to have the rewind hit you, placing you back outside where you were fighting off raccoon behind the dumpster 30 minutes ago.
>>
>>31098810
Nice work! That's a pretty great summary of mechanics thus far.

Love that cover too.
>>
>>31098860
but it would mean nothing after the rewind. So you find the clock, get rewinded. why not just go straight for the clock afterwards?
>>
>>31098897
I guess I don't like the pause because it renders the PCs completely helpless. If the darkness is going to eat you, you can try to find a light, but if time itself is frozen, there is nothing that the character or the player can do.
>>
>>31098810
Has anyone made a Gas'N'Go logo?
>>
>>31098993
Forgot to mention this in my post, I also need one of these
>>
>>31098810

Night Shift World anon here. Marry me. This is wonderful.
>>
>>31098968
good sir there is no darkness eating people on my scenario. are you mistaking it with playtest anon's?
>>
>>31098810
I'm not sure if we need a table of contents for 7 pages.
>>
>>31099017
Yeah I was thinking about taking it out
>>
>>31099017
that pdf is early alpha man
>>
>>31099017

He said it was proof of concept.
>>
>>31099007
I know you're not the same anon, I'm just using that as an example of an instance where the PCs have agency in a Threat.

I don't know how you'd fight the "pause". I know the ultimate solution is to find the clock, but what happens in the meantime? It seems like in a session that would be just time where the players aren't doing anything. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your scenario though.
>>
>>31099065
in my head, when PAUSE happens you just fast forward to when the PCs are in control again and impose a few penalties to compensate for all that time standing. So it only affects gameplay in character.
>>
>>31099091
Ahh, that makes more sense.

So if the Portent is "Pause", the mechanical penalty is "you haven't eaten in 3 days, -1 ongoing to all actions until you eat something" or something like that.
>>
>>31099126
that is correct. cumulative penalties (and that damn Manager's door resealing itself with every rewind) start to mean business after a while
>>
File: 1395940115894.png-(894 KB, 827x1169, 1395928687029.png)
894 KB
894 KB PNG
I wa bored again.
>>
>>31099212

I like it. Looks like a good template for pre-made Threats, honestly.

Keep in mind, though, that Weird Rating has been nixed until further notice.
>>
>>31099212
>dat layout
>dat art
>dat weirdness rating
i came
>>
So, I remember in a thread ages ago, one anon posted an event that cause another road to sort of appear and overlap the "real" one that is always there, creating a sort of crossroads.

This got me thinking, maybe we could use the legend of crossroads being meeting places where one can make Faustian deals?
>>
>>31099431

"Went Down To The Crossroads" - Special Event
There's a guy out near the roadway, smoking a sulfur-y cigar and offering to make a deal.
When you [shake hands with The Man after making a deal] roll
10+, You got what you wanted. Was it what you needed?
7-9, You got what you wanted, but was it worth the cost?
6 or less, You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime... maybe you'll survive this.
>>
>>31099431
Also, have this shitty threat I made at work
[Title]
Everything Must Go!

[Threat]
Huh, I guess you must have misplaced that mop a while back. Wait, wasn't there supposed to be whole boxes of stock in the storage? Now the TV is gone? Holy fuck, the bathroom door opens up into a vast empty space!

Bits of the station are slowly phasing out of reality, disappearing from existence entirely. Will the Attendants be able to find the solution in time, or will they be erased along with the station?

[Resolution]
Someone has recently dug up a poster from an old sale the station had a while back. It turns out that one item was in the sale, but never got sold and is somewhere in the store. The Attendants have to get this item sold and finally finish the sale before the night ends and the station is erased.

[Portends]
(I'm no good at these. Shit disappears, I guess?)

[Doom]
The station, along with a small island of ground outside, is trapped in some extra-dimensional space. If the PC's can find someway to close the sale while in this ethereal world, then the station will still find it's way back to reality where no time has passed and everything back to normal (at least, as normal as things get)
>>
>>31099431

I have an idea for a major threat along those lines. I plan on writing it up today, probably in a new thread.

Whoever starts a new thread, remember to put "PLAYTESTERS NEEDED" somewhere up top. NSW could still use the help.
Also make sure it doesn't look like a quest.
>>
>>31099625

Portents
-The card reader has gone missing, and you can only accept cash for transactions. -1 ongoing on all interactions with customers
-The cash is disappearing out of the till. -1 Paycheck.
-The Grey Man comes in and his candy bar has gone missing. -1 Management and Grey Man goes ape-shit.
-One of the workers goes missing (preferably an NPC).
>>
>>31098810

I thought we were using "Stop'n'Gas." I like that it implies you can drive in but don't get to leave. It's very subtle, just enough to tickle the back of your mind, then you go "Naaaah."
>>
TV Anon, has the date crystalized beyond the two dates you laid out?
>>
... This shit reminds me to Welcome to Night Vale.
>>
>>31100161

As an influence, its there undoubtedly. The difference is that Night Vale's weirdness is not weird to the people of Night Vale. The weirdness of the Night Shift is still very weird to the Night Shift.
>>
>>31098767
Using my original Threat as an example:

First Portent:
Things are getting balmy inside, and chilly outside. The patrons notice. [Requires interacting with unhappy customers]
Signs:
- An old, tape-patched note warns not to change the setting from 68 degrees.
- The warm air currents coming from vents rustle posters and papers around the store.
- Attendants tug subconsciously on their collars or fan themselves with handy items.

Second Portent:
The air vents start rattling, and smoke is leaking from a couple of them. [-1 ongoing to tasks requiring concentration]
Signs:
- An acrid, oily haze fills the Station before slowly dissipating.
- Attendants can see a snow-halo around the moon outside.
- A groaning, bumping, sputtering noise can be heard faintly behind the walls.

Third Portent:
Inside is getting very hot, outside is freezing. [-1 ongoing to all physical tasks unless Attendant's change attire appropriately.]
Signs:
- Condensation covers the freezer doors, front windows and any chilled surface.
- Attendants are now sweating profusely while inside
- The windshield wash buckets outside have frozen solid.

Fourth Portent:
Pumps no longer work because of ice, freezer no longer keeps things frozen. [-1 Management for losing the ice cream.]
Signs:
- The melted contents of the freezers run all over the floor.
- Flecks of snow begin to fall in the desert night.
- The internal thermometer has passed the highest temperature the thermostat can be set to.
>>
>>31100238

Fifth Portent:
It is snowing outside, and shimmering with heat inside. [-1 ongoing to all physical tasks even with appropriate attire.]
Signs:
- Glass bottles inside burst and spill their contents, plastic and metal containers swell.
- Blizzard conditions reduce visibility to near-zero.
- The Gas Station itself groans and creaks as the best differential between inside and outside wreaks havoc with the building.


Sixth Portent:
The Grey Man comes in for his candybar, undisturbed by the heat/cold but perturbed by the lack of candy, which melted. [-1 Management and activate one of the Grey Man's Portents.]
Signs:
- Attendants inside are drenched with sweat and windburnt from the scorched air circulating around.
- Attendants outside begin experiencing hypothermia and onset frostbite.
- All Attendants begin to suffer temperature induced delusions.
>>
>>31100265
>>31100238

Solid. The Signs can be useful in describing or expanding on what a Portent is/does. I like it. It'll probably make it into the next draft of NSW.
>>
>>31100265
i can seriously imagine this as a tv episode. Such nice narrative.
>>
>>31098810
Okay, so not all that comprehensive, but it works.
>>
>>31100291
You have to read the Signs in order to understand the Portent.
>>
>>31098810
>My employee helpful tips shows up

Yesssss
>>
Hi friends. Started the current thread but I made a few mistakes. Anyone else want to start a new thread, or shod we wait until later this evening?
>>
>>31101422
I'd say wait. I'll make it if no one else wants to.
>>
>>31101422
make sure you include "playtesters wanted" in the thread intro post, link into previous threads and the alpha ruleset pdf.
>>
>>31101514
and make sure it doesnt sound like a Quest thread
>>
>>31101514
And IRC and stuff.

The break down of "duties" was pretty good too.
>>
[Title] - A Midnight Snack

[Threat] – A new snack's been delivered to the station and it's selling like hot cakes. However, other products have been mysteriously disappearing/destroyed and those sticky-fingered teenagers haven't showed up to take the blame. Everyone's getting more and more hungry as the night goes on, and the new snacks are quickly dwindling in supply.

[Resolution] – A expired box of snacks developed a larval psychic brain within it. If the brain is destroyed or taken away from the station the Threat will end. The brain learns quickly and soon gains the ability to move itself. It senses through animated foodstuffs, and has minor telepathic powers. Capturing it will prove difficult. It will enter a chrysalis state before the Doom, and the closer someone approaches it's nest, the more violent the countermeasures it will take.

[Portents & (S)igns]
1. There are considerably more customers than usual, and every one of them is clamoring for the new snack. (The register will be overwhelmed and need additional help)
2. When the shelves need to be resupplied, the attendants notice there are considerably less cases than the supply sheet states. The Day-Shift left a note about how the delivery truck shortchanged them, but it rings hollow. (Assholes)
(S) One of the cases is torn up on one side, making a big mess. Ooze seeps from the hole. Day Shift's pranks grow ever more bizzare.
3. Everyone's getting noticeably hungrier and angrier and customers are buying ever larger amounts of snacks. (Customers are quickly becoming hostile and unreasonable.)
(S) Some customers make furious, nonsensical rants about hunger.
4. Suddenly a scream is heard as a customer runs out of the store, covered in gashes and bites. The crowd panics and runs. Depending on how well the Attendants handled the crowd, the crowd may get violent and loot the store before they run. (-1 Management if the mob goes mad)

cont'd (1/2)
>>
>>31101845
cont'd (2/2)

(S)A massive blood stain is located where the customer ran from, as well as a abruptly ending trail.
5. As the Attendants clean up the mess their own hunger gnaws at them. (-1 ongoing if they ignore the hunger. -1 Paycheck if they have to eat something off the shelves)
(S) Attendants hear shifting noises about the shelves. Freshly cleaned isles have torn up/eaten products strewn about when revisited. Newly stocked shelves empty out immediately. Yet the store's empty.
6. Attendants are sporadically attacked by warped and animated snacks. Chip bags with razor sharp teeth, energy drinks that spray acid, constrictor licorice, etc. (At random intervals Attendants take surprise “The Secret Fate Of All Life” rolls.)
(S) Piles of slime and partially digested junk food start showing up in corners, walls, and sometimes the roof. Getting it on you is a very bad idea.
7. Attendants occasionally get splitting headaches and hallucinations. Hallucinations are about things the attendant hungers for, literal and figurative. The attacks increase in ferocity and frequency. (Head-aching/hallucinating attendants get -1 ongoing to “...” rolls. Surprise snack SFoAL rolls are at -1)
(S) When attendants try to go to a certain area (Freezer/Shed/Toilet/etc) they find themselves losing mental focus and ending up elsewhere

[Doom] – The brain has achieved it's junk food reinforced imago and is ready to leave it's nest and return to whatever spawning grounds it came. Not before it has itself a few attendant shaped snacks for the long road ahead, of course. (The brain will hunt the attendants using it's fully realized animating and telepathic powers)

Maybe there should be a side thing describing the brain and giving mechanics, but this post was getting pretty long
>>
>>31099786
The reason I used Gas N' Go is that it I feel that it gives more of a "Get in there, then get the fuck out" kinda feeling. Feel free to use any name though
>>
So it's like Corner Gas but as a supernatural setting? Would watch.


[Advertise on 4chan]

Delete Post [File Only] Password
Style
[a / b / c / d / e / f / g / gif / h / hr / k / m / o / p / r / s / t / u / v / vg / vr / w / wg] [i / ic] [r9k] [s4s] [cm / hm / lgbt / y] [3 / adv / an / asp / biz / cgl / ck / co / diy / fa / fit / gd / hc / int / jp / lit / mlp / mu / n / out / po / pol / sci / soc / sp / tg / toy / trv / tv / vp / wsg / x] [rs] [@] [Settings] [Rules] [FAQ] [Feedback] [Status] [Home]
[Disable Mobile View / Use Desktop Site]

[Enable Mobile View / Use Mobile Site]

- futaba + yotsuba -
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective parties. Images uploaded are the responsibility of the Poster. Comments are owned by the Poster.