Cinematic TTRPG and D&D rival is about to get bigger, with a new third-party supplement making waves on Backerkit. Night Shift: Devil Division is an anime-inspired exploration of 1990s Japan - only in this timeline, the streets of Tokyo are full of devils that feed on painful feelings.
Created by Slightly Reckless Games, the standalone rulebooks turn you into supernatural operatives. You'll investigate the presence of demons and devils, then decide whether to eliminate the threat - or detain them in your vault, where you can bargain with them for additional powers.
We recently caught up with Sacha Lightfoot, creative director and designer for Slightly Reckless Games, to talk more about how Night Shift: Devil Division crafts a cinematic, authentic, nostalgic portrayal of Japan.
WG: Why use Draw Steel over other RPG systems?
Sacha Lightfoot: I've had the idea for the world and lore for a little while. I spent the last two or so years meeting people who own IP for big-name anime in Japan and America, and I've done a lot of pre-production on other people's anime. Obviously, I was in an anime headspace.
I knew about Draw Steel when it came out, but it wasn't until I actually played it that I thought 'oh, this is perfect'. I was GMing, and I watched one of the players uppercut a goblin into the ceiling - then repeat that and mince eight goblins in like one turn. It felt very anime-coded when we were playing.
WG: Your Kickstarter page mentions you've addressed some of Draw Steel's biggest sticking points - tell me more about this.
I don't want to come across as disrespectful - I wouldn't be using Draw Steel to make a game if I thought it was bad. But when I decided to use it, I spent time researching what people were saying about it. One thing that kept cropping up was issues with layout design and usability, and that's something we've put a lot of time and effort into on previous games.
Another thing we've addressed is the heroic resources in Draw Steel. Each class has its own heroic resource, and I understand the decision-making there, even if it feels like, functionally, the same resource across the board. They have other metacurrencies in terms of surges and hero tokens, and when we were playing, we were like 'can we make this a bit less intrusive?' 'Why don't we just unify the heroic resource?'
This makes it easier to get devil techniques, because they're not specific to any class. With hero tokens and surges, I decided to turn those into one collective pool that everyone can keep an eye on and access.
WG: This is the second RPG inspired by Japan that Slightly Reckless has developed. Why is this such an interesting setting for you?
SL: I was always into videogames growing up, and as I got older, I was part of a generation that stayed up too late watching Cowboy Bebop. Three years ago, I'd even saved up enough money to go to Japan for the first time - and then I had the idea for Ronin. I took all these savings for Japan to pay for artists and to get Ronin off the ground before we went to crowdfunding.
Luckily, it did well enough that I could get my savings back. And, because I'd started working on Ronin, it was really important to visit Japan and make sure we weren't just aping Japanese culture.
I wanted to be respectful and make sure stuff like the language was correct. I started learning Japanese because of Ronin. When I came back, I went to university to learn Japanese. I'm three years deep in that now, and just last week, I bought a house in the countryside in Japan.
Japan is an assault on the senses. It's so completely different to anywhere in the West, and it's a really interesting culture to explore. With Night Shift: Devil Division, which goes into the 90s and post-bubble-era Japan, it seemed particularly interesting.
On Ronin, I would have loved to have worked with more Japanese artists and contributors, but my language skills weren't there. With Night Shift: Devil Division, just over half of the contributors and artists are from Japan. We've also just opened an office in Toyko. It's not a surface-level take on a Japanese setting.
WG: Why is 1990s Japan a setting that it's important for today's roleplayers to explore?
SL: In the nineties, Japan went from being one of the most economically powerful countries in the world - which is amazing for a country with no natural resources - to the bubble bursting. It went from economic boom to the exact opposite, and people were struggling.
The game has this thing called Kegare, which is a spiritual residue born from grief, sadness, and other bad emotions. It made sense to set a game with devils popping up from a bad emotional state in this period.
Also, I was born in the 90s and grew up in the 90s. I think a lot of our audience are, like us, looking back at the 90s with nostalgia. There's other pop culture that seems to be exploring it too, so it made sense.
WG: It's an interesting mish-mash of nostalgia for times gone by and the harsh realities of a society that's struggling.
The premise of the game is that devils are born from fears of abstract things, like falling, overworking, or not having enough money. You're obviously feeling nostalgic when current times aren't the best, and hopefully, the game will allow you to exorcise some of that real-world pissed-off-ness by fighting personifications of fears that are probably relevant to the people playing.
The Devils are the most intriguing part of the pitch for me, because you can detain them and develop ongoing relationships with your captives. Tell me more about the devils and how they function in play.
The premise for the system came about because I wanted a lot of room for player expression with skills and techniques. In media like Persona or Shin Megami Tensei, you get your abilities from the enemies you kill, so that was something I wanted to include.
It grew into gameplay where, once you've made a pact to get a power from this enemy that's been detained in your vault, they could keep cropping back up. You could have a little chat with them. It creates interesting scenarios where they might escape, or break the terms of their agreement, or try to kill you. It's not just a technique you gain; it's a relationship that can have ongoing consequences.
WG: Tell me about each of your class options and how they play.
They're not split into traditional class groups. People have asked why there are only five classes, but there's five categories with around five archetypes within them. They're categorized by how they use Kegare, and they're all inspired by different anime.
So, there's the Exokinetics, who are Jujutsu Kaisen inspired. They're all about using Kegare as an outward medium that protects, which might mean summoning Shikigami, manipulating blood, or crowd control and swapping people on the battlefield.
Endogenics are inspired by Demon Slayer, so they're more about inward control of Kegare - using it for martial and melee abilities. They're based on all kinds of elements, similar to Demon Slayer, and we've got your core elements, but we also branch off.
Baselines don't use Kegare at all. They're based on how anime always seems to have a normal fella that's not really superpowered, but somehow can keep up with everybody else. You're mainly focused on melee, but they'll also used cursed items. It might not be flashy, but you'll feel cool doing it.
The fourth class group is the Hybrid, and its main influence is Chainsaw Man. There are object, weapon, and animal variants of the class, and these inspire your techniques.
The last one is the Contractor, where it takes the idea of the vault and gaining techniques from detained devils and runs with it. That character is the most customizable. You get a choice of different vault techniques, plus any from the devils you capture. I call it 'the Subway of classes' because your playstyle depends on the techniques you choose.
WG: It sounds like the system can get pretty complex.
SL: Complex? Yeah. We were worried that the more customization there was, the more things were likely to break, so we're planning to dedicate a lot of time to extensive playtesting, both internally and externally.
Plus, there'll be quite a comprehensive GM's guide talking about how to run the game and build an encounter. That's common in a lot of TTRPGs, but there's rarely anything player-facing telling you how to play a class or role tactically. In a game like this, where tactics are one of the most important pillars, it's important players understand what character options might combine well. I want to offer that - to hold people's hand as much as possible so they get as much out of the game as they can.
You can learn more about Night Shift: Devil Division on the Backerkit page. Crowdfunding continues until June 4. Want to chat more about the latest tabletop RPGs and news? Join the conversation in the Wargamer Discord.