I see Night Shift threads on /x/ more than on Veeky Forums these days. What became of it? And, out of curiosity...

I would come up with absolutely any excuse to weave Tom Waits into anything

>Brainstorm
Shit yeah man.

The station is patronized by a very wealthy, very fat man and his very physically intimidating manservant. They refuse to leave until the fat man has eaten his fill, but he won't be satisfied by candy bars, chips or hot dogs (he eats them, but it's only to waste the Attendant's time). What he really wants is human meat. Unfortunately for the Attendants it's been a very slow night, and the manservant is getting impatient. How much of themselves (physically or psychologically) are they willing to lose before the fat man's hunger is sated?

The title should be the title of the Monty Python sketch where the fat man explodes

One quiet clear night at the Station the moon hangs low in the sky. Heavy and close, really close, ah fuck it's falling isn't it? As the sky slowly fills with the falling satellite the employees notice a growing horde of pure white rabbits encircling the Station almost dancing. One larger than the rest seems to be leading the march. Can the employees negotiate a truce with the Lunar Rabbit cult before apocalypse descends on the world?

Gas bump.

looks a lot like ss13s aesthetic

are these all the resources? maybe one day it could be a PHB

these sound awesome, might run a game for my party over halloween

this

>The Litigation

Late one night a tragedy occurs outside the Gas-n-Go, not paying attention to the road two cars collide into each other. Once all of the regulations have been followed and the authorities are on the scene the employees have a chance to relax. A nice sedan pulls up alongside the scene and a man in a suit pops out holding a sheaf of paper immediately trying to talk to the victims, fucking ambulance chasers. Then you see another one, and another one, and another after that who gets out carrying a lead pipe with Hollinger and Sons etched into the side. Can the employees help prevent further bloodshed? Can they get the emergency services out of the growing cordon of lawyers? Will they manage to do anything without signing away their souls?

Nice covers, although I'm not a fan of all the meta-gamey stuff in apocalypse world games.

Really, Unknown Armies would probably be better at this.

I have the core rulebook for Unknown Armies but haven't gotten around to reading through all of it, where do you see the advantages?

Different user but I've only ever used UA rules when I ran Night Shift and I liked it because the system is really simple and flexible, but dealing with threats is still dangerous. The sanity system is also really good if you run NS as a campaign.

UA was designed around the idea that the PCs are weird outcasts and in Night Shift it's the same way.

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to get through the rulebook here soon

Keep in mind most of the book is fluff and rules for magick. It's all really, really good but if you're just using it for Night Shift you only have to read the first two or three chapters to get what you need.

That does bring up something for me, dragging the conversation back around to Night Shift itself, it makes for truly great one shots or short burst runs but doesn't quite hold up for a sustained campaign. I think part of that stems from a lack of character level up chances or the feeling of getting better over time. Do you think adding things such as picking up magic from a witch coven or contracting lycanthropy would help with this or not quite fit considering the restrained nature of the setting (in that they do not leave the station really)

When I was running NS it was pretty much an episodic campaign. Same PCs, same reoccurring NPCs, different threats with occasional hints that certain things tied into each other. It actually worked out really well.

The thing about UA is while the PCs don't have classes or "level up" they can improve their skills and learn new ones in a few different ways so it's not like there's no progression. I think UA's take on magic is a little too weird to work in NS (for players at least, adepts and avatars could make for some interesting threats to The Station) but doing something more similar to CoC where magic means costly rituals that are used in very specific situations could work as far as things the PCs can learn. One of the fluff points has always been that previous Attendants would hide spells and rituals in with the scribbles on the bathroom walls.

I like that plus with the ghost attendant that exists in the female bathroom would be a great way to leave little occult clues

The ghost girl was a main NPC in my games along with the night manager. They helped out every now and then but for the most part, since they'd both been at the station for so long and all of the supernatural stuff became really blasé to them years ago, they just hung out in the manager's office and gave the PCs shit when the communist robot army or whatever was making the PC's lives hell.

The helpful "Ghost of the Assistant Manager" was one of my favorite bits of Night Shift fluff I contributed to back in the day and it made me glad that a number of Anons included versions of her in their games.

If anyone wanted to turn Night Shift into a comic I'd definitely read it.

>One of the PCs discovers a lucky penny or a rabbit's foot keychain on the sidewalk outside the Station and pockets it for later, making them almost miraculously lucky in everything they do and allowing them to avoid whatever misfortune befalls the other PCs over the course of the night.

>Early one shift, a group of men and women enter the Station dressed in tacky bowling uniforms with matching shoes and bowling ball bags. They all seem a bit off, a bit strange, a bit alien perhaps, and they all purchase exactly the same thing before leaving. Only, one ither has left their bowling ball bag in the Station, and upon closer inspection the PCs will witness the ball hatch into a ridiculously tough and obnoxious space-spider-creature.

>What appears to be a bottomless pit has opened up in one corner of the parking lot. It's surrounded by caution tape and sawhorses, but these won't do a thing to stop a group of bored PCs from having some fun with it or getting themselves into some serious trouble.

I like it, seems like a good reaction to the situations. In the same sort of vein I always pictured the voice on the other end of the Green Phone as the radio operator from the movie Atlantis. The PC's would in no way shape or form be able to speed up her advice and she will always give them shit for interrupting her conversation with Margie.

The first thought I had when you said bottomless pit is pic related. Which now that I think about it Regular Show is just a cartoon version of Night Shift, has almost exactly the right sort of pacing for it and the fact that the employees keep coming back no matter what.

>While going about their nightly cleaning duties, the PCs discover, much to heir shock and dismay, that the men's bathroom has become a seemingly endless maze of graffiti-covered toilet stall walls and grimy times floors, trapping them deep inside. A trail of toilet paper seems like it might lead them back out again, but can they trust it?

>On particularly rainy nights, a girl in a deeply hooded cost can be seen standing in the downpour outside the Station, looking forelornly out across the old country road. If asked, all she'll say is that she's waiting for someone and that she's been waiting a long time. Whether or not the PCs invite her to wait inside and whether or not doing so will result in boons or repercussions is up to the GM.

>A pair of odd men wearing suits and sunglasses come into the Station and, after shopping for a while, bring armloads of goods up to the checkout counter. Observant PCs will catch that the men will try to pay for their purchases with poorly counterfeited currency. More observant PCs will come to the conclusion that their suits, sunglasses and watches are all cheap knockoffs. Most observant PCs will discover that the men are, in fact, mannequins.

Throw a frat boy Minotaur into the bathroom maze and you have me sold

>One night a shockingly old man comes into the Station. He is here to give you warning that the free tribes of Israel are heading this way following his path and, having been wandering a forsaken desert, they are angry. Are the employees bad enough dudes to help Moses calm them back down and set them on a righteous path? Are Twinkies and Slushies the biblical mana from heaven? Why does the cash register even have change making capabilities for shekels?

>A bunch of fratboys have taken to partying in the parking lot with their girlfriends and a group of pledges, drinking and carrying on while making the initiates undergo the stereotypically humiliating hazing rituals required to join. Everything's fine at first, as they'll periodically send the initiates in to buy more beer and snacks from the Station and they're not making any more of a mess than any other customers, but as the night wears on, the things that the fratboys make their pledges do become more and more cruel and dangerous until they eventually demand that they all must fight each other to the death for the right to join.

>Due to a mishap with the keys and doors automatically locking themselves, the PCs are trapped outside the station for the duration of their shift.

>Someone saved the PDFs I made.
Daw thanks guys. Those two are the latest versions using Night Shift user's updated ruleset. Although you forgot the character sheet. I'll post it in a sec.

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I've had those saved a long time. They were good work!

>a perfectly persevered caveman is found in one of the standing freezers after a customer takes the last gallon of expired milk. As the night wears on, can the employees prevent this ancient man from thawing out?

>A family of creepily content tourists stops by the station. Upon inspection this "family" bears no resembelance to one another. After quickly buddying up to them, the employees find themselves slowly integrating into this patchwork family

I love the Grey Man so much. He and the Raven are my favorite characters.

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Anyone still has the pdf of the script for the tv show?

bump cus I need that as well.

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yeah Regular Show(and it's student film predecessor 2 In The AMPM) are definitely influences on Night Shift

youtube.com/watch?v=y894QNtX0VA

I should go dig up from the archives my descriptions of the Gas-N-Go and it's surroundings, maybe try and finish up my description of the nearby town as well, cause while all Night Shifts should start at the Gas-N-Go, they don't have to stay there the whole time

OP here, thanks for keepin the Night Shift goin! I'm glad everyone seems to be for the idea of making it into a comic book. I'm trying to get some concept art going, but I've been sick the last few days and it's been hard to do much more than brainstorm ideas for characters. Since it's not exactly the game the characters I'm making are going to be more or less permanent, some will definitely die and be replaced or what-have-you, but the huge potential of the setting just felt so incredibly fun. So I'm mostly just jotting down ideas right now to put more of myself into it with the bones of the Night Shift world. Lots of references to old sci-fi and horror, I have some ideas that range from fun and whimsical to outright terrifying just like the range of the game can go either way.

Regardless I'm extremely excited and hope I can show you some designs as they come out and, hopefully, have some good stuff up for the big spooky Halloween season

as I mentioned in I had jotted down some ideas about the Gas-N-Go and it's surroundings that you can borrow if you want, you can find them in this thread;

desuarchive.org/tg/thread/45446152/

let me know if you want more info, I still need to get around to writing up my thoughts about The Town, and The County and how they can contribute to the Night Shift crew's adventures

leaving site while you're on the job is a bit unprofessional, wouldn't you say user

I'd be really interested in checking them out if you don't mind, could you chuck them up on dropbox or google drive?

I'd never thought about the potential of leaving the gas station, but if the comic is still fun and people seem to like it I could build outward from it. I'll look into these regardless, thanks user!

under normal circumstances maybe, but the weirdness that infuses The County(and seems to have the Gas-N-Go as it's epicenter) sometimes requires leaving the station, not to mention while all adventures start during a Night Shift, they can potentially continue into the day, or even nights where you aren't on duty at the Gas-N-Go

not to mention with the way things go during The Night Shift, it's actually pretty hard to get full-on Fired(at least in my opinion), especially since under normal circumstances the Gas-N-Go can't be permanently destroyed or damaged beyond a certain extent(although it can still end up trashed enough that you'll get docked pay, a talking to over the phone by Management, and get teased about it by those dicks in Day Shift for weeks afterwards)

even if you never leave the Gas-N-Go it's always a good idea to have the surroundings thought up, so you can be consistent about certain details(after all some of the best horror comes from when the consistent and normal in your life suddenly changes in unexpected ways)

also no problem, I'm glad to be of assistance

I work overnight at a gas station and I'm always upset that something weird doesn't happen. It's kinda outta the way, though, so it doesn't get a ton of business. It's incredibly unnerving, though, when you catch a glimpse out of the giant wall of windows at 3AM and see some one standing on the other side, but it's just a reflection of some stupid chips display or whatever.

Precisely how comedic is Night Shift meant to be? Like what's it's place on the horror-comedy axis

it's honestly pretty variable, although personally I think it works best when there's a persistent vein of humor to things, as many of the best Horror movies tend to have humor in them

not to mention it's hard to avoid people goofing around while running an RPG, so might as well embrace the potential for silliness

There's a time and a place for everything. After all, the most common thing for someone to do after screaming is to laugh. "Did you see that? Oh god, that got me..." etc. Horror and comedy have always been reliable bed buddies and learning how to balance that out and to keep everyone guessing is the key to a good story. Horror is meant to unnerve you when you feel secure, no better way to feel safe than with humor.

This was actually discussed in the original Night Shift threads, and consensus seemed to be that the setting worked best as a blend of both bleak terror and pulpy supernatural fun, the proportions of each to be determined by the GM running the game and the PCs playing it. Like others have said, the frightening and the funny can intertwine in strange ways, especially when you're dealing with a group of folks living on the fringes of society, forced to work a dangerous minimum wage job that they hate. Unless your aim is to run Night Shift as a oneshot or a high lethality game with a lot of PC turnover, your Station Attendants are probably going to try and use humor to alleviate the stress and horror of their situation.

Personally speaking, I agree with this user in that I enjoy the idea of Night Shift playing out almost like a workplace comedy with a constant undercurrent of unnerving dread and interwoven with moments intense and unexpected horror.

bump