Night Shift thread

Also this, a segment of the script that NSWAnon and TVanon were trying to get made. Sadly, the TV powers wanted to make it into a lighthearted sitcom that downplayed the supernatural elements, because creativity is punished in TV land.

It's a damn shame, too. Stranger Things is a good example of how it should be done, not some shitty BBT-esque comedy.

That's why you don't trust network executives to tie their own shoes

Whatever happened to the project anyways? Last I heard, they were going indie

I love the Local58 clips. Does anybody know if there's a new one being made or anything?

theres 3 out right now. The guy making them is pretty busy with 2 webcomics, so I wouldn't hold your breath.

b8mp

bump

Just ran my Halloween special of Night Shift. I remember the first Night Shift threads, in fact I made the first and the updated player guides and Management Manual. If anyone wants, I can do a story time if anyone wants.

I still have my scripts. Our various indie outlets have been plumbed. I unfortunately don't have much time to actively hunt for directors, what with grad school.

I nonetheless managed to run a game of Night Shift tonight using v2 of my homebrew system. If this thread is alive by tomorrow I'll dump my story of tonight's session.

Also to clarify-- there was never a "powers that be". As I understand it, TVanon spoke with a family friend with connections in the business. After reading the pilot script it was his suggestion to do a more conventional and lighter comedic web series.

Plenty of anons have talked about this as though it circulated anywhere resembling Hollywood. A nice dream but not the case.

>tears

Haven't seen this before. Fukkin' saved.

This seems really fun - any ideas or examples of shit playing out to give me a feel for how it plays?

It really works for either pulpy sci-fi threats, or actual horror. The setting is strongest when the threat is tied into the gas station location.

Story time, gib plz.

I'll have to post my ideas for both the Gas-N-Go, and it's surroundings again, just need to go dig them up from Desuarchive real quick

bump

Anybody stil has a link for those Excel spreadhseets with events and stuff?

Righto. So I've been tinkering on the Night Shift homebrew on and off when I've had the chance. Last session was more or less a playtest of v2; the system is no longer based on Apocalypse World's ruleset (though you can probably parse out its influence).

Last night's group was my first IRL Night Shift session. They really seemed to enjoy it.

Here is the character sheet v2.
>docs.google.com/document/d/1v7E3AFSg-_pfBBI89dBH74UAW67ss-qw_9cyde0eRzo/edit?usp=sharing

I'll give the basics of the new system;
>Players have their individual Effort Pools (starting with five d6) and a communal Station Pool (starting with the number of PC's+2).
>When I ask for a check they roll 1d6, +1d6 if it is in their job's purview, +xd6 from Effort and Station Pools. Both are finite resources which only renew at the beginning of a shift.
>You gain a bonus (or penalty) to each die equal to the appropriate Attribute. Each 5+ is considered a success. If you have enough successes you Do The Thing, if not, fuck you.
After the session I think I'll be nixing the additive Attributes. Instead, I think one's Attribute will replace the base dicepool. Instead of it being 1d6 for free, +1d6 if it matches your career it will simply be a number of d6 equal to your Attribute, plus any Effort or Station dice you want to expend.

We managed to get two shifts into a single session, which seemed apt. Any longer, I think, and the shift's weirdness would have lost its bizarre luster.

The first shift's PCs
>Assistant Manager Richard Johnson, needed money for rent, really liked being the AM.
>Cashier Stacey, needed money for car insurance, really disliked actually doing any work
>Stock Clerk Emil, had some student loans to pay off, hated work but wanted to be left alone to get it done
>Gas Attendant Scrab Medallian, needed money to keep building a rocket in his garage, slightly unhinged
>Drifter Dermiline, had ordered an Uber two weeks ago after her car broke down, still waiting

cont.

I almost, appropriately, forgot.

>Special Trainee/Intern Shane Brawn, no one liked him and he was terrible at everything and garbage forever

Shift 1
>Things that needed doing; mop out freezer, restock shelves, count out register, check flow regulator and gas levels, make sure vendor deliveries are scheduled
>AM industriously sets everyone to work. Cashier ignores her joke and starts smoking weed with Drifter.
>The Grey Man arrives. Gas Attendant breaks pump trying to fill up his looks-like-a-Cadillac-but-isn't-quite-right.
>Cashier doesn't check, but tells Grey Man they do not sell Marathon bars. AM agrees. Grey Man says he will wait until they do.
>AM repeats they do not and have never sold Marathon bars.
>Stock Clerk finds a box of Marathon bars in the back.
>Drifter helps Gas Attendant with the pump-- it finally stops spurting gas everywhere, but now it won't pump gas period.
>Gas Attendant decides that's almost like being fixed and decides to throw rocks at the moon.
>Drifter smokes week in bathroom.
>Special Trainee has been trying--and failing--to memorize the Employee Manual in the Office.
>Gets a call from Pogo's Clown Emporium, confirming the delivery of 16 clowns to the station.
>Special Trainee is smart enough to tell the AM about this, but not smart enough to tell them not to deliver 16 clowns to the station.
>The Grey Man pays for gas ($89.43 because of Gas Attendant's fuck up) and Marathon bar and leaves.
>D&D player in full costume comes in to register a complaint-- he picked the wrong flavor of Mountain Dew (regular instead of Baja Blast) and no one on Day Shift corrected him.
>Cashier and AM berate him until he cries. Cashier throws paper balls at him as he tries to call his mother and find Management's number.
>Gas Attendant joins in, but throws the same rocks he's been trying to throw at the moon.
>Management later calls AM to berate him about customer service.
>Then the clowns arrive.

>AM is in the office, trying to count out the register. The Drifter directs the clowns to the bathroom.
>AM hears something through the shared wall.
>Honk. Honk. Honk. Honk honk honk honkhonkhonkhonk.
>Sends the Special Trainee in to break up what he thinks is some clown gangbang.
>The bathroom is empty, but covered in blood, with a single long colorful handkerchief in the middle of the floor.
>Gas Attendant and Special Trainee are trying to find where to check gas levels.
>Special Trainee finds a door that wasn't there before labeled "Basement Here And Also Where You Check The Gas Levels Really"
>They head down nine floors worth of stairs.
>Stock Clerk has done nothing but their job. Tirelessly, thanklessly.
>Cashier is getting super fucking high with the Drifter. Has spent literally none of their Effort dice. It's beautiful.
>Gas Attendant and Special Trainee realize there are no gas gauges in this nightmare machine-shop. Also they hear a voice.
>Gas Attendant runs away from stairs, unwisely in the direction of the voice.
>Runs into an entity wearing both the outfit AND skin of a clown. Emptied out a clown, and just wore the whole thing.
>Gas Attendant dies messily. Special Trainee would have, but for his special ability.
>Instead the entity tells the Special Trainee that he enjoyed the first 16 clowns, and wanted more.
>Special Trainee promises that he will order more clowns for the entity.
>Shift comes to a close; the AM was fired (the D&D guy and his mother complained directly to Management), the Stock Clerk was promoted to AM, and the Drifter was hired.
>The Special Trainee was hoping for a promotion so he could get a paycheck. Instead, Management extended his internship rather than fire him.
>Cashier remained a cashier, and fuckin' toasted amiright420blazeitfaggots.
>AM beat up Randy from Day Shift (assholes) on his way out.

If one if the things that need to be done for session two isn't "order more clowns" I will be severely disappointed

events:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aQBCHdWak95SdkViMptGEpi5U4FMW9yo3o9jqtTC_Wo/edit#gid=0

"big box edition" events:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fxoLbwUhGGzG33KexlxnqDwoQrOuopkfvZ4WXUpa_EI/edit#gid=0

Shift 2

I randomly distributed Careers to the new characters; the former Drifter was hired on as a Stock Clerk, the former AM became a new Drifter, and the Gas Attendant drew the Gas Attendant again.

We reasoned that his old character had been hired. No one else remembered him working their before, nor being messily murdered, except the Special Trainee (whose sanity was beginning to fray as a consequence).

>Shit needing to be done; "Papa Papis' Apple Pies" had been recalled and needed to be boxed up, and two deliveries were scheduled to come in ("New Papa Papis' New Apple-Cherry Applie Pies" and "Rico Fat Boy And The Frat Bro Brats Brautwurst"), someone from another Stop 'N Gas was coming to audit the books, the freezer needed to be mopped again, and the AC needed to be fixed
>New AM hands out tasks
>Cashier ignores hers and goes to smoke weed with the new Stock Clerk
>Gas Attendant notices there is a new gas station across the street
>The Gas 'N Stop
>Convinces the Special Trainee to join him to check it out rather than listen to the new AM
>The Gas 'N Stop is staffed by 'people' who look like poor papier-mache versions of the PC's.
>Too much skin over inelegantly constructed skeletal frames
>Kind of flappy and floppy. Spoke in stilted tones, with a lot of mispronunciations
>"Wolcume to the Gas 'N Stop, how is your meat? We have a sale on Popsi and Cola products for your with drinking."
>Gas Attendant fascinated by how everything is like a poor mirror, wants to explore the station
>Mirror-AM offers to take him on a tour
>Alone
>Gas Attendant flees
>Drifter gets locked in the freezer by AM while stealing ice cream
>Stock Clerk starts eating the recalled pies while waiting for new delivery (which is now late)
>Mirror-AM comes over, explains that the new applie pies were mistakenly delivered to them
>"We would very much like if you to us came with, and also your meat, so you can take your pies"
>AM conscripts Gas Attendant and Drifter to come with

cont

>Meanwhile, a man arrives at the Stop 'N Gas
>Flowing black hair, white snake cowboy boots, pin stripe pants and vest, elegant black sombrero and tasteful bolo tie
>Nametag that says "Ricardo Esteban Esteban Esteves"
>Cashier warily adopts a wide-legged stance, one hand hovering near the pen at their hip
>Ricardo Esteben Esteben Esteves narrows eyes as dark as a moonless sky, as cold as the duns at night
>He licks a finger, smoothing his manicured mustache
>"Muestrame los libros" he whispers in an exotic, sensual voice
>"Are you the guy?" the Cashier asks
>Ricardo Esteben Esteben Esteves lights a cigarillo languidly. It smells of tacos, somehow.
>"Los libros. Muestrame." he says again, definitely not speaking out of Google Translate on the screen in front of me. "Tenemos una problema?"
>Cashier eventually relents and allows him into the office.
>Meanwhile, the Mirror-AM, Mirror-Stock Clerk, and Mirror-Gas Attendant have led the AM, Drifter, and Stock Clerk into the back room.
>"There are the upple pors for you to have with your meat. You have so much meat, is it inconvimnent to have so much meat?"
>AM says it is not
>"Perhaps it is though we could use more meat here may we have the meat inside you please?"
>AM sees where this is going. Stock Clerk hurredly wheels out with the promised New Papa Papis' New Apple-Cherry Apple Pies.
>AM looks at Drifter.
>"You gonna pay for your ice cream?" "YES" "You sure?" "YES" "Do you have the money on you right now?"
>He does not. AM says the Mirror-people can take his meat.
>As they descend on the Drifter, AM tries to rummage through the room to see if the Gas 'N Stop also has their Rico Fat Boy And The Frat Bro Brats Brautwurst.
>Unfortunately for the AM, the Drifter manages to fend off the Mirror-folks long enough to escape.
>AM is trapped by the Mirror-folks.
>AM is torn apart.
>Session ends soon thereafter due to RL constraints.

>Final fallout; the Gas Attendant was promoted long enough to fire everyone else, then got fired himself.
>Exception was the Special Trainee whose internship was extended so they could help train the next batch of employees.
>Still never got a paycheck.
>The last anyone saw of the Gas 'N Stop, suspiciously meat-plump Mirror-people were waving goodbye and promising to visit again soon.

And that was that. The group had a great time, they said, and it was pretty fun running it as well. I got a lot of good feedback regarding the mechanical system-- the dice economy needs sharpening, for example, and I need a more concrete methodology to spending my Weird Dice.

All in all, a decent Halloween.

Nice, thanks for posting. Sounds like these all had a decent conclusion. Roughly how long did each session take to play through?

That was a single 4 hour session. I tried to keep each shift to roughly two hours. Second one was slightly truncated, though.

I think an individual Threat should be distilled to about a half hour of material, and padded out with absurdly mundane stuff. What worked for me was the interplay of "this is a horrific thing" with "but also we really need to refill the sofa machine".

Halloween Night Shift storytime is go:
>We got a Mexican cashier, an assistant
from an unspecified Eastern European country, and an older Italian Trainee.
>Shift starts with the cashier working on the w-2 form
>Trainee is outside waiting to pump gas for someone.Assisstant manager watches him, while manning the cash register.
>Car pulls up, stops next to one of the gas pumps
>Cashier decides to throw a beer bottle at the car, saying "You have shit American baby car."
>Young, well dressed guy gets out of his car and starts yelling at the cashier
>Cashier takes a swing and misses, and guy responds by knocking cashier out cold

Posted early for bumping
Also, the trainee is the one who threw the beer bottle and started the fight, the cashier was inside, working on the w-2.
>AM runs outside, starts apologizing to the guy, offering to give him a complimentary refueling and some store items
>The guy agrees
>As the AM calms the guy down, the AM signals to the now conscious T to lock the doors
>C pokes his head out of the break room door to see T locking the door, and AM pulling a knife out of his pocket
>C leaps over to the break room computer to switch off the security cameras
>As AM swings the knife towards the back of the guy's head, the lights go out
>The fluorescent lights flash back on a second later, revealing AM furiously stabbing a bag of Cheetos
>T is trying to break into the guy's now abandoned car
>AM is now paranoid and grabs a bag of Corn Nuts to feed to the raven nesting atop one of the shelves
>T is able to pick, meaning smash, the car's door window, and lets himself in
>He's able to scavenge a baton and a lighter from the glove compartment
>AM starts yelling at T to get rid of the car, in case anyone else comes
>T begins pushing the car off into the only blackness of night
>AM turns around from watching T push the car off, to discover the Grey Man standing in front of the clerk space
>AM rushes over to the counter to check if there are any Marathon bars
>C forgot to restock, and so the only chocolate bar left on the shelf is half eaten, with the wrapper torn to shreds on the ground
>AM cuts off the chewed on bit, leaving a little less than half a Marathon bar
>AM hands the half eaten bar to the Grey Man
>AM is freaking out as the Grey Man inspects the chocolate

>C kicks open the door and performs the best sales pitch for a candy bar ever uttered
>The Grey Man accepts the bar, offering to pay full price for it
>AM gives it away for free, before pulling the Grey Man into the break room to show him that an order for more Marathon bars has been placed
>The Grey Man seems content, and turns to leave
>C stops him and asks a whole bunch of questions
>The Grey Man answers diligently and truthfully, but as he again turns to leave, C forgets everything the Grey Man told him
>As the Grey Man walks out of the store, AM realizes T hasn't come back yet
>AM grabs the stores baseball bat, leaving C to man the store
>T pushes the car into a ditch, obscuring it from passing traffic
>Content with his work, T begins to make his way back to the store
>Small passing fingers begin to brush across his back, tugging ever so gently at his shirt
>T can see nothing, everywhere he looks reveals only more dark
>His vision is useless
>Suddenly, T is flung down on to the asphalt, scraping the side of his face
>Like some kind of a unmoving quicksand, T is slowly dragged down into the earth
>T screams and tries to flee, trying to thrash against the consuming darkness
>AM hears his screams, and runs towards the source
>AM trips and stumbles face first into the ground, submerging his nose and mouth in the watery dark
>AM is able to rio his head free and screams for help, before an unseen hand grabs onto his long hair and drags his head back down
>C hears the scream
>C realizes the threat can only exist in darkness, grabbing a flashlight, a lighter, and the baton T stole from the guy's car
>Following the sounds of T's howling, C finds his two co workers

Wonder if anyone even knows what that op pic is from.

The guy in does.

>AM is almost completely submerged in the asphalt, only his heels and back are above the road
>T is just a head, and arms screaming and flailing above the asphalt
>A force pushes C onto his knees, which are now sinking into the earth
>C flips the flashlight around, pushing himself out of the road
>There are no marks or debris where C had nearly sunken in
>C takes off his shirt, wrapping it around the baton, and igniting the shirt
>He pulls the others out of the ground, AM is nearly dead, and T also had a very close encounter with death
>C instructs the others to make their own torches, using their uniforms, and some branches from the trees
>They make their way back to the store, only to discover all the lights are out
>Shining the flashlight across the store front, they find the windows shattered, items strewn about the floor, and an entire shelf flung through the door way
>AM decides that he'll clean up the store, and also try to find some tiki torches
>T and C will go around back to check the circuit breaker
>They find that the wires have been cut, and C decides to scavenge some parts from T's car to repair it
>The lights on T's Fiat then flash, as the car rocks, as though something heavy had moved from one side to the other
>C holds up the flashlight and threatens whatever's in the car.
>Two circular beams of light pop up from the backseat focusing on C
>The two lights then disappear, and the car's lights turn off
>AM is trying to find some tiki torches but whenever he thinks he sees one, something shuffles it out of the light
>He grabs a corn but from his pocket and feeds it to the raven
>The raven caws and swoops over to a spot near the bathrooms.
>A single tiki torch is there.
>AM backs up to the wall next to the slushee machine. He is forced to hold his torch in his mouth to unbox the tiki lamp
>After getting the tiki lamp set up, AM then notices the slushee machine is acting up
>The lid on top is shaking pretty violently

>AM carefully removes the lid, and from the sugary sludge, rises a lump creature, completely covered in slushee, revealing not a single piece of what lies underneath
>Two bright circular lights shine out from it, blue hued due to the raspberry slushee
>AN freaks out and grabs the fire extinguisher, smashing the slushee machine to bits
>There are no traces of whatever was in the machine
>C has carefully positioned himself under the car, making sure that his entire body is covered in light
>T is inside the car, grabbing his trusty flare gun
>C is able to find what looks like what might work, and the two head back to the circuit breaker
>Instead, they find the entire wall ripped out, exposing the women's bathroom, which is mysteriously untouched
>Using some some wires, duct tape, and the discarded circuit breaker, C is able to somewhat fix the breaker, although it looks like it could fall apart at any moment
>The lights come back one, except the ones in the men's bathroom
> C decides to continue work on the w-2, and fix the windows, while T and AM check out the bathroom
>C covers the windows with trash bags, remarking it reminds him of home
>The door to the bathroom is locked, and the space between the door and floor stuffed with toilet paper, so that no light can enter
>AM and T have to bust down the door to get inside the bathroom, only for the door to slam shut again
>C is forced to cut down the door, allowing light to pour in, and save the rest of the crew
>T decides to use the bathroom, but something is pushing against the stall door
>T responds by yelling "I have to take a shit."
>The door opens

>T sits on the toilet
>In the darkness his ass has now created, something crawls up
>T then yells that he knows perfectly how to deal with these "cockroaches"
>T grabs a pack of beer, a rubber hose, and begins to chug the whole thing
>When this doesn't work, AM suggests that he swallow one of those small flashing lights near the checkout
>T does and instantly feels better
>C then notices that the pipes sticking out of wall that had been ripped off are beginning to leak
>C runs over and tries to cover the circuit breaker
>He's able to cover the circuit breaker itself but not the wires around it
>To repair the circuitry, T and C travel to the car T dumped in the ditch, to salvage it for parts
>AM stays behind to clean up
>T and C's journey is uneventful, although C loses his pants, but AM is soon knocked out by a falling light
>T and C return to try and help AM, lights keep falling on to the PCs
>AM ends up firing the flare gun into the ceiling
>The flare ricochets and lands on the ground
>AM grabs the flare and throws it up into the ceiling
>The lights stop shaking and falling
>The circuit breaker is repaired, and the remaining lights come back on
>The crew decide to take a well deserved rest in the break room
>Except for C who is covering the circuit breaker with umbrellas, due to the incoming rain
>C accidentally knocks a wire loose, causing the break rooms lights to go out
>T and AM get dragged into the floor again
>C again has to come save them
>In order to light up the room, T decides to run out and grab some gasoline to burn the room down
>A fight between C and T ensues with them eventually spilling gasoline everywhere
>Eventually, both are able resolve their differences

>With a job well done, T lights up a cigar
>The raven, realizing her best will burn with the ray of the station, flies into the ensuing explosion, as C and AM watch from the cashier counter
>The explosion extends for a second, then reverses into a minuscule point, then to nothing
>Nothing is left of T
>The day shift should be showing up soon
>The door to the station opens, and the bell chimes
>T had used his last hold to survive the explosion
>Flying in behind him is the raven
>The three employees walk out of the station together, two of them completely naked, leaving the day shift to clean up their mess

You got an expected release date for that v.2? Do you have a doc of it up yet?

No release date, since I'm more or less tinkering with it whenever I have the time. I have a Google Doc but it is mostly a workspace. Keep an eye on the character sheet I linked above. I'll post a thread once I have something cohesive written up.

bump

Cool, thanks NSWanon.

bump

Gay, I'd rather more Local 58.

Love this shit, always happy when another thread pops up.

I ran this a few days before Halloween. It was a bit of a clusterfuck but my players liked it.
I had an FBI agent chasing a tin foil hat guy. Whoever the players sided with would help them with the more serious stuff going on.
But my players got them both killed. They befriended a mutant and an army guy though so there's that.

Saving this shit, perpetual haunted idaho town trapped in the eternal not quite 80s-90's hoooo!!!