Product Review
The future is not bright, the
future is not Orange.
The future is dark, the future
is SLA.
SLA Industries describes itself
as “A Roleplaying Game of Futuristic Urban Horror”,
but this just chips the surface and is definitely
not all it achieves… it goes much deeper.
So
what’s it all about?
SLA Industries is a huge galaxy-spanning
corporation, run by one man: Mr Slayer. He built SLA
Industries on the greed, blood and ashes of everyone
who got in his way. His rise to power started when
he began supplying the warring factions of the galaxy
with technology, weapons and even bio-engineered soldiers.
But there was more than a simple capitalist dream
behind it all, every item sold was rigged to shutdown
or rebel at a certain date. This left all resistance
to Slayer crippled and ready for his new, bigger,
better, more-orderly - “World of Progress”.
The World of Progress has its headquarters
on the planet Mort, which is where the characters
will be based in the game. Mort is a ravaged industrial
planet, which isn’t a million miles away from
the Judge Dredd Megacity’s as far as looks go.
The planet is covered in factories, mines and housing
for the SLA Industries employees. The architecture
is stacked in levels that wind down into choking tunnels
and vents, and as always, the poor are at the bottom
of the ladder. If there's one quote from the book
that sums up the setting perfectly, it this…
“On Mort the rain never stops”.
In the game the players are SLA
Industries investigators of some form or another.
They are basically troubleshooters who are there to
try and keep the balance. They can be despatched for
any number of reasons, a serial killer may be on the
loose, a riot may be in progress, a terrorist could
be threatening a SLA factory; the list is as endless
as the pollution in Mort.
Sounds
serious. So can I only be an investigator then?
Well, technically yes. But you’re
area of investigation expertise could be anything
from a forensics doctor to a trained hit man. In fact
the group is encouraged to take a mixture of characters
with various skills, so that you can cover a range
of missions. Which leads me on to THE BEST thing I
think a roleplay game has ever come up with, paperwork.
In SLA Industries paperwork makes
the world go round. You need warrants to arrest, search
and kill anything. You can sign sponsorship contracts
to help bring in some extra cash (more on this below)
and you get all your missions on little Blue Print
News (BPN) forms. This works really well and gives
the game a great feeling of the impersonal bureaucracy
and how the pen truly can be mightier than the sword.
It also helps build the idea of the ‘system’
and how it pays to be on the right side of SLA Industries.
The media is another factor of SLA
Industries that has been dealt with really well. Imagine
a world where the only thing to do when you’ve
finished your long hard shift at a factory is to switch
on the TV and take it all in, or maybe you don’t
even have a job, maybe SLA takes care of you and you
just stay in all day tuned to their TV stations. This
is the realm of the celebrity, although the stars
of the future are a little different from Carol Vorderman
and Richard and Judy. The prime-time violence of the
SLA contract killers has gripped the population. People
tune in day and night to watch SLA Industries Operatives
bringing justice and control to the mean streets of
Mort.
This is worked into the game for
the players as well. When you accept a mission you
will be told if it has any media coverage and the
more well known your character gets the more money
you can get from potential sponsors, who want to see
their name on your body armour next time you’re
in front of the camera. A good way of building up
your reputation is to call in news teams when your
about to hit some action, so imagine your about to
tangle with some gang members who have taken control
of a warehouse, what do you call for first…
back up or media coverage.
This
all sounds excellent; didn’t I hear someone
say the rules were really hard though?
Yes, it was a well-known fact for
quite a long time that SLA Industries had a set of
rules that were harder than Mike Tyson wearing a concrete
suit. They have included a page in the rulebook now
though called SLA Industries Quick Start Introduction,
which gives you a quick overview of the game and a
very brief rules summary. I think that it would have
been better to include a brief summary of the combat
and character creation rules as well, but we can’t
have everything can we.
Character
creation… can I be one of the bio-engineered
chaps you mentioned earlier?
You sure can. There are seven character
types to choose from in the main rulebook. First up
we have the age-old classic, humans. Humans are still
alive and kicking and have embraced the World of Progress
more than any other race. Most Shiver units (sort
of SLA troops/police units, which the players can
use for backup, crime scene work and cleanup) are
made up of humans. They also make up the workforce
and fill many positions in SLA Industries business
areas.
Next we have Frothers. These are
lethal drug crazed humans who use powerful chemicals
to drive themselves to the edge. One of the most famous
combat drugs they take is “Ultra Violence”,
which is basically used to physically and mentally
twist the Frother into a killing machine. Third in
line is the Stormer. This is the name given to the
genetically designed soldiers created by Karma (a
division of SLA). They are no longer required to fight
wars, so SLA has found a use for them on the streets
of Mort, where their huge, well-muscled, ferocious
look helps keep the peace.
Ebons are close to humans in the
looks department, but somehow more beautiful than
any human has ever been. During the early days of
SLA Industries a large ‘gap’ was found
on Mort and this gap was emitting a blinding white
light and a great deal of flux (raw psychic energy).
The Ebons are able to manipulate flux and use it to
perform various ‘powers’, which are things
like protection, healing and telekinesis.
They can also use several destructive
powers as well, such as blast. But the Ebons tend
to leave the use of these powers to the Brain Waters,
who are sort of the evil sect of the Ebon race. They
aren’t truly evil though; slightly sadistic
is probably a better description of them. Basically
where the Ebons are polite friendly and courteous
the Brain Wasters are rude bitter and just don’t
really care.
Shaktars are large scaly aliens
with toothy-jaws, keen yellow eyes and fleshy dreadlocks
who sign up to a similar school of thought as the
Klingons. Their society is based on honour and respect
for elder Shaktars. SLA Industries recognised the
good combination of instinct, intelligence and strength
and a Shaktar makes a worthy addition to any Op squad.
Finally we have the Wraith Raiders.
They are originally from a cold snowy-ice planet and
when they reach the warmer climate of Mort their looks
alter slightly. They often have navy or deep purple
hair with a mottled leopard like effect on parts of
their skin. They are natural hunters on their own
world and these skills translate perfectly to the
skills needed to track down serial killers and criminals
for SLA.
They
all sound interesting, and the system sounds like
it could be ok with practice, anything left to say?
Not really. SLA Industries has a
very good setting and adventures are so easy to come
up with it’s scary. The business-like aspect
of adventures also makes a refreshing change to the
usual “you stumble across a map” style
of game intro. I think that if you can develop the
corporation controlled, media driven population and
then stress the futility that an individual feels
when they finally snap you will be in for the ride
of your life. Your players will have fun building
up their material wealth while trying to maintain
their grasp on sanity.
This game let’s you see the
future. It let’s you join the galaxy wide corporation
that is SLA Industries and what could be better than
that. After all Mr Slayer cares about all of his employees.
Just don’t rock the boat...
Reviewed By Jon Simpson |
