“Dead of Night” is a new horror roleplaying game from SteamPower Publishing, authored by M. Shanmugasundaram (Merwin), and Andrew Kenrick.
Described as a “pocket roleplaying game,” it is a compact little book that fits snugly in one’s pocket, perfect for gaming on the go. It is handsomely illustrated with black and white illustrations from Michael Cunliffe and Eric Lofgren, an industry veteran who also supplies the book’s striking cover image: a man being graphically ravaged by a pack of werewolves.
Although there are no reasons why an enterprising GM couldn’t use “Dead of Night” for an extended campaign or series of games, it really isn’t made for this. In some ways, the book’s design really says a lot about the sorts of games for which “Dead of Night” is ideal: compact “pick-up” games of high-intensity horror.
Character generation is swift and loose, and takes a minimum of time. Rather than defining characters through physical and mental attributes, “Dead of Night” utilizes four pairs of related skills, or potentialities if you will: Identify/Obscure, Persuade/Dissuade, Pursue/Escape, and Assault/Protect. Players divide ten points between each pair in any way that they might like. After this, at the player’s option, he may choose to take specializations that can provide bonuses in specific situations. The text supplies a few examples, and the player and GM are encouraged to define more together. Once this is done, the character is given five “Survival Points” and the process is complete.
Task resolution in “Dead of Night” is extremely simple to the point of abstraction. All actions, included combat, are resolved by rolling two ten-sided dice, and adding the result to the total of the character’s appropriate attribute. If this roll equals or exceeds the target number, the action is a success. Normally the target number is a default “15,” unless the action is opposed, which in case the target number equals the antagonist’s opposing attribute.
The gamemaster can also modify the character’s task resolution rolls through the use of “Tension Points,” the total of which he or she has available at any time depending on the circumstances of the scenario. Through this mechanic, the gamemaster can assume an antagonistic role in relation to the characters, making their lives more or less difficult as he or she sees fit.
Combat is handled the same way as any other task resolution process, with the exception that any time a character fails a combat roll he loses one of his Survival Points. Success results in the opponent losing one of his Survival Points. Weapons play absolutely no role in the “Dead of Night” combat system, with potentially troubling results: a character armed with his bare hands stands just as much of a chance of defeating an opponent as a character armed with a shotgun.
Speaking of Survival Points, combat isn’t the only way that they can be lost. They can be spent to re-roll failures, affect the storyline and other things. In this sense, Survival Points represent the character’s potency and importance in the evolving story. A Character whose Survival Point total drops below zero is taken out of the game by the GM, but he or she can earn more in-play through consciously embracing horror movie clichés (splitting up to investigate the haunted house, for instance), surviving challenges, and otherwise adding to the storytelling experience.
“Dead of Night” comes fully-stocked with all sorts of horror movie baddies, as well as several very good starting scenarios and probably some of the more useful gamemastering advice that I’ve read in a roleplaying game, and I like the overall emphasis of the system on dynamic tension levels, short and bloody play, and story-focused gamemastering with a reverence for horror movie standards.
However, the system itself left me a little disappointed. Rules-lite in every sense of the word, there just isn’t a lot in the game to really sink one’s teeth into. For a quick, single game session “Dead of Night” works out fine. More than a couple of sessions would be difficult for me to do without a more robust system under the hood. Still, for the gamer looking for a highly narrative storytelling horror game, “Dead of Night” will probably suit the bill.