Night In Gotham (1986)

This is an adaptation of the patrol system from Night in Gotham, the 1986 supplement for Mayfair Games' DC Heroes' Roleplaying Game. It's interesting for several reasons, which I will discuss below. What you need to know to read it is:


 * There are ten patrol hours in a night.
 * Players choose which district they are patrolling in.
 * The GM then generates a percentage chance that something happens, and if so, what, customized to each neighborhood. That's what the below tables do.

I went on patrol in Gotham City at night for an hour...

...in the Central Business District, the financial nexus of the city. [centralbusiness]

...on the Lower East Side, a deteriorating working class neighborhood. [lowereast]

...in Chelsea, a Bohemian neighborhood of artists and intellectuals. [chelsea]

...at the East River, a neighborhood of former glory now tenements and low-rent offices. [eastriver]

...in Bristol, an exclusive community of mansions and riches. [bristol]

...in Bryanttown, a tenement neighborhood surrounding a closed chemical plant. [bryanttown]

...in Chinatown, an ethnic enclave that handles its own business. [chinatown]

...in Neville, the center of Gotham nightlife. [neville]

...in Midtown, a middle-class urban neighborhood. [midtown]

...on the Waterfront, a reformed entertainment district entwined by darkness. [waterfront]

...Uptown, a somewhat declined wealthy neighborhood with many tourist sites. [uptown]

...in the Bowery, a claustrophobic warren where the police don't go. [bowery]

...in Glendale, a neighborhood surrounding a modern college. [glendale]

...in Evanstown, a seemingly pleasant small town style community. [evanstown]

...in Irving Grove, a suburb near the edge of town. [irvinggrove]

...in Gotham Village, a failed attempt at public housing projects and industrial blight. [gothamvillage]

...in Sommerset, a seemingly quiet neighborhood near Arkham Asylum. [sommerset]

...in the Scituate, a middle-income neighborhood torn up by new stadium development. [scituate]

...in Lyntown, a rabbit-warren of closed factories, chop shops and railyards. [lyntown]

...at Victoria Place, home of high tech industrial facilities and residential areas. [victoriaplace]

...in Little Stockton, an older heavy-industrial neighborhood. [littlestockton]

...in Manchester, a working class melting pot neighborhood with historical sites as well. [manchester]

...in Coventry, a middle class community of single family homes and small shopping centers. [coventry]

...in Charon, a weird suburb of cemeteries, Arkham Asylum and historical mansions and neighborhoods. [charon]

First, it approaches superheroism as only partly plot-driven. The patrol system here randomly generates crimes, the idea being that the characters have to juggle both plot and patrols, as well as any personal subplots. The idea, often floated in later pulp or superhero games, that only key scenes of conflict and heroism should be played out, doesn't work here. The system includes an encounter frequency, and, if an encounter occurs, a breakdown of which types of encounters are common in each neighborhood. Mayfair would later expand on this concept in their Underground RPG, in which patrolling a neighborhood adjusts the features of the neighborhood like its crime rate, stability, jobs, etc. - the equivalent would be adjusting the percentages in a district if Batman patrols there a lot.

Second, it's a glimpse into pre-Crisis Gotham City. Depicted since that time on two large islands (the Nolanverse brought the Narrows into existence), Gotham City in Night in Gotham is an inverted "U", surrounding a bay. Each of the districts is given their own traits, prevalence of incidents, and specialties of crime. (Yes, Sommerset has two Ms.)

Third, it indicates the type of things that Gotham City heroes, including Batman, were supposed to be dealing with in 1986. It includes minor crimes like vandalism as well as somewhat challenging scenarios like being targeted by law enforcement. Drug-related crimes are only a small percentage of the crimes that are generated.

The supplement was written by Walter Hunt and edited by Jackie H. Leeper. Hunt is now a science fiction writer, his webpage can be found here.

Enjoy going on patrol in Gotham City!

8,....and it was all quiet. 2,...and I [centralbusinessencounter]
 * centralbusiness

20,came across the burglary of a public establishment. 5,came across an assault. 10,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 10,came across vandalism or arson. 10,came across a vehicular crime. 5,was attacked by a criminal. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 10,got crosswise with another hero. 10,got crosswise with the Gotham City PD. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 5,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * centralbusinessencounter

6,....and it was all quiet. 4,....and I [lowereastencounter]
 * lowereast

15,came across an assault. 10,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 10,came across vandalism or arson. 10,came across a drug-related crime. 10,came across smuggling or trafficking-related crimes. 10,came across a brawl on the street. 5,came across a vehicular crime. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 5,got crosswise with another hero. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * lowereastencounter

8,...and it was all quiet. 2,....and I [chelseaencounter]
 * chelsea

15,came across a burglary of a private building. 5,came across a burglary of a public building. 10,came across an assault. 10,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 5,came across vandalism or arson. 10,came across a drug-related crime. 15,came across a vehicular crime. 10,was attacked by a criminal. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 10,got cross-wise with the Gotham City PD. 5,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity.
 * chelseaencounter

7,...and it was all quiet. 3,...and I [eastriverencounter]
 * eastriver

5,came across a burglary of a private building. 5,came across a burglary of a public building. 10,came across an assault. 5,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 10,came across vandalism or arson. 10,came across a drug-related crime. 5,came across smuggling or trafficking. 15,came across a street brawl. 5,was attacked by a criminal. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 5,got cross-wise with another Gotham hero. 5,got cross-wise with the Gotham City PD. 5,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * eastriverencounter

8,...and it was all quiet. 2,...and I [bristolencounter]
 * bristol

15,came across a burglary of a private building. 5,came across a burglary of a public building. 10,came across an assault. 5,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 5,came across a drug-related crime. 5,came across a vehicular crime. 15,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 30,got crosswise with the Gotham City PD. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * bristolencounter

6,...and it was all quiet. 4,...and I [bryanttownencounter]
 * bryanttown

5,came across a burglary of a private building. 5,came across a burglary of a public building. 10,came across an assault. 5,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 10,came across vandalism or arson. 15,came across a drug-related crime. 15,came across smuggling or trafficking-related crimes. 10,came across a brawl on the street. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * bryanttownencounter

7,...and it was all quiet. 3,...and I [chinatownencounter]
 * chinatown

5,came across a burglary of a private building. 5,came across a burglary of a public building. 5,came across an assault. 5,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 5,came across vandalism or arson. 15,came across a drug-related crime. 20,came across smuggling or trafficking-related crimes. 10,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 15,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 5,encountered supernatural phenomenon. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * chinatownencounter

6,...and it was all quiet. 4,...and I [nevilleencounter]
 * neville

10,came across a burglary of a private building. 10,came across a burglary of a public building. 10,came across an assault. 5,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 10,came across a drug-related crime. 10.came across a vehicle-related crime. 5,was targeted by a direct attack by the criminal element. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 10,got crosswise with the GCPD. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 5,encountered supernatural phenomenon. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * nevilleencounter

8,...and it was all quiet. 2,...and I [midtownencounter]
 * midtown

10,came across a burglary of a private building. 15,came across a burglary of a public building. 5,came across an assault. 10,came across vandalism or arson. 10,came across a vehicular crime. 10,was targeted by a direct attack by the criminal element. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 10,got crosswise with another costumed hero. 10,got crosswise with the GCPD. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 5,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * midtownencounter

7,...and it was all quiet. 3,...and I [waterfrontencounter]
 * waterfront

10,came across a burglary of a public building. 10,came across an assault with a weapon. 10,came across a drug-related crime. 20,came across an incident related to smuggling or trafficking. 5,came across a vehicular crime. 10,was targeted by a direct attack by the criminal element. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 10,got crosswise with another costumed hero. 5,got crosswise with the GCPD. 5,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * waterfrontencounter

6,...and it was all quiet. 4,...and I [uptownencounter]
 * uptown

15,came across a burglary of a private building. 10,came across a burglary of a public building. 15,came across an assault. 15,came across an assault with a weapon. 5,came across vandalism or arson activity. 15,came across a vehicular crime. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 10,got crosswise with the GCPD. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity.
 * uptownencounter

6,...and it was all quiet. 4,...and I [boweryencounter]
 * bowery

10,came across a burglary of a private building. 10,came across a burglary of a public building. 10,came across an assault. 10,came across an assault with a weapon. 10,came across vandalism or arson activity. 10,came across a drug-related crime. 10,was directly targeted by the criminal element. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 5,had an encounter with the supernatural. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * boweryencounter

8,...and it was all quiet. 2,...and I [glendaleencounter]
 * glendale

15,came across a burglary of a private building. 15,came across a burglary of a public building. 5,came across an assault. 15,came across an assault with a weapon. 10,came across a significant street fight between large groups. 10,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 5,got crosswise with another costumed hero. 20,got crosswise with the GCPD. 5,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * glendaleencounter

9,...and it was all quiet. 1,...and I [evanstownencounter]
 * evanstown

20,came across a burglary of a private building. 5,came across an assault. 20,came across a vehicular crime. 15,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 25,got crosswise with the GCPD. 5,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * evanstownencounter

8,...and it was all quiet. 2,...and I [irvinggroveencounter]
 * irvinggrove

10,came across a burglary of a private building. 5,came across a burglary of a public building. 5,came across an assault. 5,came across an assault with a weapon. 5,came across vandalism or arson activity. 5,came across a drug-related crime. 15,came across a vehicular crime. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 5,got crosswise with another costumed hero. 5,got crosswise with the GCPD. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * irvinggroveencounter

8,...and it was all quiet. 2,...and I [gothamvillageencounter]
 * gothamvillage

10,came across a burglary of a private building. 5,came across an assault. 10,came across vandalism or arson activity. 5,came across a drug-related crime. 10,came across a significant street fight between large groups. 15,came across a vehicle-related crime. 10,was directly targeted by the criminal element. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 10,got crosswise with another costumed hero. 10,got crosswise with the GCPD. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * gothamvillageencounter

8,...and it was all quiet. 2,...and I [sommersetencounter]
 * sommerset

15,came across a burglary of a private building. 10,came across a burglary of a public building. 5,came across an assault. 5,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 10,came across a vehicle-related crime. 5,was directly targeted by the criminal element. 15,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 15,got crosswise with the GCPD. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 10,had an encounter with the supernatural.
 * sommersetencounter

7,...and it was all quiet. 3,...and I [scituateencounter]
 * scituate

10,came across a burglary of a private building. 10,came across a burglary of a public building. 10,came across an assault. 5,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 10,came across vandalism- or arson-related activities. 10,came across a drug-related crime. 5,came across a vehicle-related crime. 5,was directly targeted by the criminal element. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 5,got crosswise with another costumed hero. 10,got crosswise with the GCPD. 5,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * scituateencounter

7,...and it was all quiet. 3,...and I [lyntownencounter]
 * lyntown

5,came across a burglary of a private building. 10,came across a burglary of a public building. 10,came across vandalism- or arson-related activities. 10,came across a drug-related crime. 5,came across smuggling or trafficking-related activity. 25,came across a vehicle-related crime. 10,was directly targeted by the criminal element. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 5,got crosswise with the GCPD. 15,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity.
 * lyntownencounter

7,...and it was all quiet. 3,...and I [victoriaplaceencounter]
 * victoriaplace

10,came across a burglary of a private building. 15,came across a burglary of a public building. 5,came across an assault. 5,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 10,came across a vehicle-related crime. 10,was directly targeted by the criminal element. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 10,got crosswise with another costumed hero. 10,got crosswise with the GCPD. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * victoriaplaceencounter

7,...and it was all quiet. 3,...and I [littlestocktonencounter]
 * littlestockton

20,came across a burglary of a public building. 5,came across an assault. 15,came across vandalism- or arson-related activities. 15,came across a vehicle-related crime. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 15,got crosswise with the GCPD. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 15,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * littlestocktonencounter

6,...and it was all quiet. 4,...and I [manchesterencounter]
 * manchester

5,came across a burglary of a private building. 10,came across a burglary of a public building. 5,came across an assault. 5,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 5,came across vandalism- or arson-related activities. 10,came across a drug-related crime. 5,came across smuggling or trafficking-related activity. 10,came across a significant street fight between large groups. 10,was directly targeted by the criminal element. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 10,got crosswise with another costumed hero. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * manchesterencounter

8,...and it was all quiet. 2,...and I [coventryencounter]
 * coventry

10,came across a burglary of a private building. 5,came across an assault. 10,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 5,came across a drug-related crime. 10,came across smuggling or trafficking-related activity. 5,came across a significant street fight between large groups. 10,came across a vehicle-related crime. 5,was directly targeted by the criminal element. 10,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 5,got crosswise with another costumed hero. 5,got crosswise with the GCPD. 10,encountered a suspicious person connected to criminal activity. 10,came across a clue or overheard a piece of information connected to criminal activity.
 * coventryencounter

8,...and it was all quiet. 2,...and I [charonencounter]
 * charon

15,came across a burglary of a private building. 5,came across a burglary of a public building. 5,came across an assault. 5,came across an assault with a deadly weapon. 10,came across vandalism- or arson-related activities. 5,came across a drug-related crime. 10,came across a vehicle-related crime. 10,was directly targeted by the criminal element. 5,was put to the test by a dangerous non-criminal situation. 15,got crosswise with another costumed hero. 5,got crosswise with the GCPD. 10,had an encounter with the supernatural.
 * charonencounter