What is SLA Industries? That's a question everyone has answered but nobody has really figured out. People invariably begin by comparing it to something else. "It's kind of like meets ." They then recite passages from the ever-quotable main rulebook and proceed to dictate their own interpretation of the game to you, along with an extreme value judgement. Because of this SLA has been relegated to the status of a 'cult' game, with a small but devoted following playing it in the shadows of the gaming community for the past 6 or 7 years. So what is SLA Industries?
SLA Industries is a roleplaying game of urban horror. The urban part comes from the setting, a megalopolis of a city so large that it goes up and down as well as side to side. Horror comes from the fact that the city, named Mort, is terminally screwed-up and filled with weird aliens and terrorists and serial killers and poor people (walled off of course) and rich people and mutant creatures from the neighboring Cannibal Sectors. The city is ruled by an immortal supercorporation called SLA Industries, which keeps the passive populace quiet with employment and free television and the violent portion of society down by sending armed mercenaries, called Operatives, out into the streets to act as peacekeepers.
In the game Players take the roles of Operatives, whom are employees of SLA Industries yet are free to contract their services out to the various sub-companies underneath the corporation. Work comes in the form of Blueprint News Files (BPNs for short) which are categorized and color-coded according to the mission type. For example a 'Blue' BPN is relatively menial, consisting of street maintenance, sewer investigations or remedial tasks; a 'White' BPN requires investigating some kind of mysterious crime and 'Red' BPNs are emergency responses to some kind of nearby threat or attack. There are a lot of different BPN types, each requiring a different approach to dealing with the missions. What this means is that one day a squad of PCs may be immersed in a hellish firefight and the next day they might be assigned to do a public relations tour of an orphanage. The BPN system allows for a level of flexibility in designing stories not seen in very many role-playing games. It is a bright part of the game.
The game is great, while the books are (at least in my opinion) not. I can complain at length about the bloated-yet-ambiguous prose, the incomplete rules, the constant references to celebrity NPCs (note to all game designers: nobody wants to play a game centered around your personal Player Characters), the horrible bias towards feature PC races (making a whole section of superpowers used by only one race and not making anything else for other races = game designer favoritism), and the total lack of a guide to help new Players and GMs. In fact, a lot of people have already made these complaints and I’ll refer you to SLA’s harshest critics as a substitute for my opinion. That I can be that angry with the books and yet still give a rave review for SLA Industries is a testament to how good the game can be. Let me share what I love about it.
Either by design or by accident SLA Industries is one of the most moral role-playing games published. The setting is monstrously bleak, depressing and hopeless and the characters play more or less a group of fascist stormtroopers yet Players still come to the table hoping that they’re doing the right thing in the gameworld. There is no Humanity system and no rules to enforce good behavior yet Players will still care about the fate of an NPC bystander caught in the crossfire of a gun battle (when was the last time a gamer cared about an NPC? This is why SLA is cool). SLA makes the Players the voice of authority in the setting, meaning that they also have a responsibility in it. What that means is that even if the character is a sadistic NPC-wasting thug the Player will be considering the consequences of their actions. Absolute power breeds corruption. In SLA, absolute power plus accountability breeds moral role-playing. In an unsophisticated hobby such as gaming, this means a lot.
SLA is a very flexible game, capable of all kinds of different styles of roleplaying. Wanna go into the Cannibal Sector and shoot up a whole nest of mutants? Go for it. Wish the World of Darkness was more intense, more character-driven, more angsty and thoughtful? With SLA, “this goes up to ’11’.” Good ideas abound in SLA, and there’s bound to be one feature in the setting that piques your interest. For me it’s the omnipresent television networks, but for you it could be anything.
Unfortunately this makes SLA Industries one of the hardest RPGs to run. Information is either gleaned through the books (you will never find the same sentence twice) or through the word-of-mouth teachings of the fan-based Internet community. I was tutored by a veteran SLA GM long before I bought the books and because of that I’m more comfortable with the game than those that read it first. SLA is a game that supports Players (who get insanely powerful guns and armor cheaply) over Gamemasters (who has to make challenging missions for said squad of well-armed PCs without being called unfair). Most combat scenes are overkill, where PCs shrug off the NPCs bullets while blowing away the opposition with one-shot-kill superguns. Of course if you can get away with it a GM can modify the rules and make things a little more balanced… it just takes work. Running SLA Industries is not easy.
Which brings me to my last two gripes about the game in general. So much of SLA is left open to GM interpretation that no two game groups will be alike. This makes it great for customizing for your friends’ tastes but also makes it frustratingly hard to find a decent game outside of your area. Something as simple as a description of a typical street in the gameworld can spawn huge arguments between GMs; which is encouraged by the game designers, whom want to maintain the mystique of their setting. This is where I start complaining about the Truth, which really shouldn’t be a part of the game yet keeps popping up in published supplements. For those who don’t know it, DON’T GO LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH. It may make you not want to play the game anymore. I’m serious, it’s not worth it.
Now, with that all said, here’s a mini-review of all of the published SLA Industries supplements.
Karma Sourcebook: The Louisiana Purchase of RPG supplements, effectively doubling the background info on the setting. With new PC races, new guns & camera equipment, new drugs, and even a section of implant enhancements for your PC (think biological cyberware). The book is essential if you want to play the game.
Mort Sourcebook: Eh. Not really a sourcebook on the planet or the city the game is set in. It’s really a sourcebook about Shivers (NPC security) and The Pit (a huge bar that’s considered cool for no discernable reason). Some of the description of the lower levels of Downtown is interesting but they shy away from discussing it at length. Which sucks because Downtown is where most game BPNs take place. If only they glossed over the bar and spent all that time on Downtown… Comes with a few sample BPNs in the back (massively useful). The rest of the book is interesting but not at all useful.
SLA Industries Gamemaster’s Screen: Comes with a screen that has practically the entire rules section of the book reduced to useful chart form. And most of the charts are free of errors. Also comes with errata for the rule book and Karma, some sample forms for photocopying, a single page titled ‘Hints for running SLA Industries’ (MORE flowery words that don’t help a GM out!) and a few more sample BPNs. Oh yeah, a couple charts for quicker character generation. It’s hard to find but worth the effort.
The Key of Delyrhead: A published scenario allegedly made for beginning characters but capable of killing the entire squad in the blink of an eye. Every single type of villain is thrown at you in a haphazard kind of way. If you’re a completist I’d say buy it. Otherwise it’s not much of a bargain.
The Contract Directory: A supplement for Contract Killers, SLA’s version of roman gladiators and WWF-style televised pro wrestling. Since most SLA games are about Operatives and not CKs this book won’t help you much. Comes with media description (decent), a huge section on biographies of more celebrity NPCs played by game designers, rules for customized weapons, new insanity rules, stress rules, and martial arts rules. While I’m not a fan of the insanity rules I dig the martial arts stuff and the stress system is a joy to behold. It actually encourages Players to roleplay their Characters hanging out at the mall and buying stuff as a means of relaxation. I’m not joking, I have PCs that are too stressed to adventure so they go shopping. As far as supplements go it’s not very useful, but the new rules are worth a look. Stress rocks.
I’ve tried to keep this review brief while still explaining the things about SLA Industries that nobody ever mentions, but even then it doesn’t cover all of the cool little nuances to the game. Nightfall Games is not like many game companies; they listen to the fans and make changes to their game, as evidenced by the seedling future rules system in Contract Directory. However Nightfall could learn a lesson from fellow game designers in supporting a game line. SLA Industries needs a Gamemaster’s guide (sans fiction and Truth), a book of equipment (guns, armor, vehicles, pointless luxury items, etc… a typical cyberpunk gearbook), a book of quick and dirty BPNs to give GM’s ideas, and sample maps of what city streets might look like. Any of these might help communicate the game to a wider audience and thus pull it out from the shadows of the gamer cult community. Hopefully SLA 2nd Edition is on the horizon.
SLA Industries is not yet made for everyone. Should you go out and buy it today? Probably not. But if you’re interested in the game I strongly suggest finding someone to mentor you in the game, to run a few sessions for you and see if you like their interpretation and the setting in general. Maybe after a month or two of this I’d say buy the main rulebook (and Karma). It’s a game you have to work at to love but it does reward you with an experience like no other game. Buried beneath the hype, the angry/confused critics, the overly protective fan-cultists, the deteriorating pages and the nonhuman prose lies a setting and some concepts that are both original and quite thoughtful. It takes time but it’s well worth it.
…Okay, if you really want to know SLA Industries, it’s like Delta Green meets the TV show ‘COPS’, only you’re working for the Great Old Evil and there’s fewer naked guys on drugs you have to chase down. There’s the easy answer. You happy?
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(Due to spamming, old forum discussions are no linked.)