Publisher: Awful Good GamesA young woman walks home from her night class. The buses have stopped, but the streets are well-lit and her apartment is nearby, so she's not particularly concerned as she checks her phone for messages and email. Exhausted and distracted, she doesn't notice a dark shape stalking her from the shadows; the only thing that betrays its presence is a brief, metallic glint...
In an antique shop, a man is looking for a birthday present for his daughter. After browsing the shelves for some time, he selects a doll, carelessly knocking another one to the ground and shattering part of it's face. He looks around and, relieved that the cashier didn't hear anything, scoots the broken doll under a shelf with his foot. As he walks over to pay for the other one, the broken doll's remaining eye opens, and it's head slowly turns toward him...
The team is excited by the discovery of a cylindrical shaft that descends deep beneath the ruins they were excavating. They eagerly rig up a pulley system and begin lowering someone down, but after a few hundred feet the rope suddenly jerks to a sudden halt, causing him to fumble and drop the flashlight he was carrying. As he reaches for a spare, he hears something scuttling about on the wall before him...
Fright Night is a lightweight, easy to learn and quick to play tabletop role-playing game intended to evoke the feel of b-movies, slasher flicks, horror films, and even dark comedies. The players take on the role of typical, everyday people that somehow cross paths with a variety of malevolent entities that they must either defeat, escape from, or contain.
Or, die trying.
The rules are minimal and flexible, using a simple dice pool mechanic that relies entirely on six-siders: when you try to do something, you roll a number of dice equal to your stat, and each 5 or 6 is a success.
While the players work with the Director to set the scene, and cast their characters and the extras, both the monster's nature and course of the story are randomized through a series of tables. This means that even the Director has no idea exactly what you will face or what’s going to happen next.
Not only does this provide a kind of story framework useful for new Game Masters to work with (especially those not used to winging it), it also prevents you from learning the trends and habits of the guy your group normally ropes into the job of running your games.
You can read some of our playtest reports here.
Price: $3.99