History TabletopGame / SLAIndustries

** Though Operatives don't usually go there, the War Worlds are even worse. Once there, SLA Industries' soldiers have an average lifespan of a day. [[UpToEleven On the worst War Worlds]], this can drop to just ''twenty minutes''.

* {{Dystopia}}: Even on Mort (the capital planet of SLA Industries and thus the one world that you could expect to be a prosperous, secure stronghold), there are all kinds of rival company terrorists, gangs, drugs, environmental degradation, serial killers, unethical experiments going wrong in the worst ways, no fewer than three divisions of brutal (and powerful) secret police, and massive regions of urban blight which have been abandoned to barbarism. Oh, and [[UpToEleven 85% of the population is on welfare]].

* AdultFear: The [[SexSlave Skin Trade]] is the epitome of this, snatching 50-70 children daily.

* TokenGoodTeammate: The Shaktar and Neophron are intended as this, being more upbeat, morally firm contrasts to the morally lax species of the World of Progress.

* TokenGoodGuy: The Shaktar and Neophron are intended as this, being more upbeat, morally firm contrasts to the morally lax species of the World of Progress.

* MoralDissonance: Operatives -- the group to which the player characters belong -- are generally depicted as arrogant bullies or worse (though the Second Edition has taken steps to humanize them). For that matter, SLA Industries themselves are depicted as sinister, domineering, and just plain ''irresponsible'' to a degree that would do any MegaCorp proud. ([[BlackAndGrayMorality To be fair, though, SLA's -- and the players' -- enemies are even worse]].)

* RockBeatsLaser: The primal Hominids of White Earth wield equally primitive bone clubs that can effortlessly smash through advanced power armor. [[Spoiler: This is intentional as both a hint to The Truth and how unstable the reality of the World Of Progress actually is.]]

* DrugsAreBad: There are plenty of [[FantasticDrug combat drugs]] available to Operatives (and anyone else who can get their hands on them). Most, of course, are highly addictive. The second edition in particular makes drug withdrawal a punishing experience.

* MoralDissonance: Operatives -- the group to which the player characters belong -- are generally depicted as arrogant bullies or worse. For that matter, SLA Industries themselves are depicted as sinister, domineering, and just plain ''irresponsible'' to a degree that would do any MegaCorp proud. ([[BlackAndGrayMorality To be fair, though, SLA's -- and the players' -- enemies are even worse]].)

* AscendedFanon: Player's taking the "Sterile" flaw in 1e was so prevalent that now the 2nd edition states that sterillity is a wide-spread issue in the setting's galaxy.

* CosmicHorrorStory: Rarely seen in most games, originally intended to be revealed in a long-running {{Metaplot}} that fell victim to the game's infrequent releases and ExecutiveMeddling from Wizards of the Coast.

* LethalJokeItem: CAF guns in second edition, while still having the same terrible reputation,enjoy increased damage that can be increased further through a mixture of specialty ammo and having high enough skill points in a given shooting skill, making them a viable (and vastly cheaper to top up) alternative to the starting 603 pistol.

* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: The setting undoubtably took inspiration from ''Film/BladeRunner''. It ''never'' stops raining on planet Mort. Fittingly, the rain itself is part of the character of every part of Mort. In Mort Central (where Mr. Slayer's office is located) and Uptown, the rain is pleasant and refreshing. In the horrific slums of Downtown, the rain is polluted and nasty. In the Cannibal Sectors, the rain becomes [[EverythingTryingToKillYou yet another life-threatening hazard]].

* ArmourIsUseless: Notably defied. The best armors can stop anti-vehicle rounds dead, whereas the most common pistol on Mort is essentially a BB Gun with great marketing, meaning that even weak armor can defeat it.This goes doubly in the game's second edition, with the addition of randomized instead of fixed damage and removal of Penetration values, so even the oft-loathed "Blocker" Body armor can stop a decent amount.

* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: The setting undoubtably took inspiration from ''Film/BladeRunner''. It ''never'' stops raining on planet Mort.

*** Basically, it revolves around a [[Gnosticism Gnostic]] view of the setting, ten years before ''The Matrix'' popularized the topic. (But then, ScienceFiction has dabbled in Gnosticism before.)
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: Carriens, Manchines, Scavs, Domino Dogs... if there's anything SLA Industries is good at, it's creating things that go horribly, psychopathically against them.

->''Five words is all it takes. Five words that will shatter any illusions you harbor about our existance. Five words that, once heard, change the universe forever. [...] [[spoiler:[[TomatoInTheMirror We are all Dream Entities]].]]''

The game has had a difficult upbringing, and been subject to a sporadic release schedule on its journey through the hands of various publishers. Originally published by Nightfall themselves, it was taken up by Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast during the mid-1990s before being dropped in favour of something LighterAndSofter. It then survived a couple of releases at Hogshead, and before being published by Creator/Cubicle7. Now Nightfall Games is back, and a second edition of the game is in the works, with a backer beta currently out and the full release scheduled for November 2020.

* DrugsAreBad: There are plenty of [[FantasticDrug combat drugs]] available to Operatives (and anyone else who can get their hands on them). Most, of course, are highly addictive.
* {{Dystopia}}: Even on Mort (the capital planet of SLA Industries and thus the one world that you could expect to be a prosperous, secure stronghold), there are all kinds of rival company terrorists, gangs, drugs, environmental degradation, serial killers, unethical experiments going wrong in the worst ways, no less than three divisions of brutal secret police, and massive regions of urban blight which have been abandoned to barbarism. Oh, and [[UpToEleven 85% of the population is on welfare]].

* FantasticRacism: Often arises as a low-level political issue. Humans are the dominant species. The psionic Ebon, reptilian Shaktar, and feline Wraith Raiders constitute racial minorities outside their respective homeworlds. Ebon, in particular, are loathed and feared for their reality-warping abilities.

* GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke: Used by SLA Industries with Stormers, on their rivals. Scavs and Carrien (currently), Domino Dogs (in the near future) and virtually all of the horrible mutants in the Cannibal Sectors are the result of SLA Industries' attempts to build new and impressive weaponry.

* ImmuneToDrugs: The Frothers, a subspecies of humanity who become addicted to combat drugs in the womb, to the extent that they are considered a separate race. They regard pharmacological excess as a cultural right, and regularly consume doses of recreational and combat drugs that would kill an ordinary human.

* IndustrialWorld: SLA's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Industrial Worlds]] have most of their land surface (and ocean) completely covered with industrial production facilities and cities. Their surface areas that ''aren't'' industrial hellholes or slums are generally [[GaiasLament barren, polluted wastelands which have been stripped of all resources]].

* JustLikeMakingLove: How one contract killer (think the Hunters from ''Film/TheRunningMan'') describes his work:

* SingleBiomePlanet: The home planet of the Wraith Raiders is an Ice Planet. Other Wraith Raider-controlled planets are Ice Planets as well.

* CityPlanet: All {{Industrial World}}s have their land surface (and most of their seas) completely covered with industrial production facilities and cities.

* IndustrialWorld: Industrial Worlds, such as Mort, have their land surface (and most of their seas) completely covered with industrial production facilities and cities.

* WhamLine: From the very end of the 2e Core Rulebook:
->''Five words is all it takes. Five words that will shatter any illusions you harbor about our existance. Five words that, once herd, change the universe forever. [...] [[spoiler:[[TomatoInTheMirror We are all Dream Entities]].]]''

** Mort City itself got reduced in size, and is merely the largest settlement among several on the planet, now.

* [[SnuffFilm Snuff TV]]: The Public main source of entertainment, with several shows and channels dedicated to all sorts of uncensored gore, and a possibly quite lucrative income source for Operatives.

* [[SnuffFilm Snuff TV]]

The game has had a difficult upbringing, and been subject to a sporadic release schedule on its journey through the hands of various publishers. Originally published by Nightfall themselves, it was taken up by Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast during the mid-1990s before being dropped in favour of something LighterAndSofter. It then survived a couple of releases at Hogshead, and before being published by Creator/Cubicle7. Now Nightfall Games is back, and a second edition of the game is in the works, with a backet beta currently out and the full release scheduled for November 2020.