CREDITS Writing Andrew Kenrick Additional Writing Scott Dorward, Mark Latham, James Mullen, Joe Murphy 1 st Edition & Game Design Andrew Kenrick & Merwin Shanmugasundaram Illustration Paul Bourne design & layout Paul Bourne Editing Malcolm Craig, Scott Dorward, Gregor Hutton, Matt Machell, Iain McAllister, James Mullen Playtesting Ian Ackerman, Dave Ballam, Kevin Barthaud (Mr. Toad), Andy Coles, Mark Dewhurst, Scott Dorward, Johnathan Ellis, Jez Gray (Jonny Gray s brother), Sue Lee, Mark Long, Iain McAllister, Elaine McCourt, Ian McClumpha, Louisa McGuinness, Seana McGuinness, James Mullen, Matt Nixon, Stephen Plummer, Robin Poole, Steven Pretlove, Mick Reddick, Mik Reed, Matt Sanderson, Claire Stansfield, Adrian St. John, Graham Walmsley. Special Thanks To the members of the Collective Endeavour for your continued help and support, to Ron Edwards for championing the first edition of the game, to Scott Dorward and his big bag of horror movies, and to Ruth for putting up with me while I wrote the second edition. No Thanks at all to Gary Bowerbank. 2010 Steampower Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden, except for the purposes of reviews. Steampower Publishing is a registered company in England and Wales, company #04894085 Steampower Publishing www.steampowerpublishing.com 0 2
Introduction 04 Getting Started 05 ONE: CREATING YOUR VICTIM 07 Concept 08 Attributes 09 Specialisations 19 Bad Habits 22 TWO: THE RULES OF SURVIVAL 25 Standard Checks 26 Conflict Checks 28 Risk Checks 30 Describing the Outcome 31 Claiming Initiative 31 Who Rolls the Dice? 32 Survival Points 33 THREE: TENSION 37 Determining Tension 38 Managing Tension 42 FOUR: MAKING A MONSTER 47 What s my Motivation 48 Monstrous Archetypes 50 The Unstoppable Killer 52 The Vengeful Dead 54 The Hunter 56 The Beast Within 58 The Corrupter 60 The Impostor 62 The Puppet Master 64 The Horde 66 The Formless Horror 68 The Thing From Beyond 70 By The Numbers 73 Monstrous Specialisations 73 CONTENTS FIVE: GENRE 79 Slasher 81 Monster Movie 84 Splatter 86 Vampire Movies 88 Werewolf Movies 90 Ghost Stories 92 Asian Horror 95 Zombie Apocalypse 98 Psychological 100 Lovecraftian Horror 102 Black Comedy 104 Body Horror 106 SIX: TOOLBOX OF TERROR 109 Liberation from Preparation 111 Customising the Game 122 Scaring Yourself Silly 127 SEVEN: SCENARIOS 139 Unhallowed 141 Cold Fusion 151 Dust 160 When Johnny Came Home 170 APPENDICES 179 Mediography 179 Index 181 Character Sheet 185 0 3
INTRODUCTION Dead of Night is a roleplaying game of campfire tales, slasher movies and b-movie horror. It is a game of tales told to scare the bejeezus out of your friends when sleeping out under the clear night sky; of tales of beasts and monsters and murderous psychopaths; of tales that might just turn out to be true. In Dead of Night players take on the roles of characters within a horror movie - the screaming victims, the fearless monster hunters and sometimes even the slavering monsters themselves. They play the characters about to be thrust into whatever peril the games master has planned. Whilst the players play out their roles within the horror movie, the games master has no single role to play - instead he sets up the story, describes the locations, plays the rest of the cast and controls the monster. Dead of Night is all about the monsters - the werewolves, the ghosts and the ghouls. It is meant to scare the players, to make them jump at their own shadows and the clatter of the dice. It is meant to unsettle and disturb, to make them think twice before turning off the lights. It is meant to be light hearted at times, when the horror movie clichés flow thicker than the blood. Above all, it is meant to be fun! Dead of Night is designed to be quick and easy to play, with rules that help you tell horror stories without getting in the way of the fun. The rules are simple and straightforward to learn, yet offer a variety of options and depth to allow you to customise the game however you like. You Will Need To play Dead of Night each player will need a character sheet, a pencil, two 10-sided dice and a handful of coins or counters. Terminology In Dead of Night, the game is ran by a games master (the GM) and the players play characters within a horror movie. The main threat comes from the monster. Ten-sided dice (d10s) are used to resolve actions. Players use (and lose) Survival Points to influence events and represent setbacks; each time they do so the Tension cranks up by 1, allowing the GM to pile on the pressure even more. The game is designed to emulate a horror movie, so survival is not assured. 0 4
GETTING STARTED A game of Dead of Night is quick and easy to set up, allowing you to start playing as soon as possible. Create your Monster: Every game of Dead of Night has a monster of some description at its heart. Come up with an idea for your monster or pick a classic horror movie creature. Decide on the motivation for your monster. Turn to Chapter Four: Making a Monster for more about monsters. Set the Scene: Once you have decided upon your monster, you need to create a compelling situation in which the story will take place. This might be as simple as picking an evocative location or coming up with a premise that demands action right away. Turn to Chapter Six: Toolbox of Terror for more about devising a situation and setting the scene. Set the Tension: Before you start play, give some thought to the genre, mood and atmosphere you want to convey in the game. You can emulate these in the game by use of the Tension mechanics. Turn to Chapter Three: Tension and Chapter Five: Genre for more about using Tension. Introduce the Victims: After devising a monster, a situation and the mood for the story, all you need now is to introduce the cast of characters. If you have a strong idea about the story you want to tell and the cast of the movie, you might want to make the characters yourself. Otherwise, set the scene for the players and ask them to generate characters tied into the situation. Turn to Chapter One: Creating your Victim for more about making characters. Play! With the characters created, it s time to set the scene and let the horror commence. The rules for playing the game can all be found in Chapter Two: The Rules of Survival. Find out More To find more scenarios, advice for running games as well as to download character sheets and play aids, go to our website at: www.steampowerpublishing.com 0 5