This game seemed very popular.

Why?

What did it have that compelled that popularity?

More cult than popular I would say. And its rep has grown since due to the net.

Those who worked in FLGS back then would probably have a better idea of its true popularity.

I have no idea how popular it was.  I have it, and it is gonzo as hell.  I could see it appealing to the grimdark crowd, the setting was different, but the spoiler for the setting....was certainly different.

Quote from: oggsmash;982303I have no idea how popular it was.  I have it, and it is gonzo as hell.  I could see it appealing to the grimdark crowd, the setting was different, but the spoiler for the setting....was certainly different.

It is, i used to own the 1e. Bought it from Virgin back when they sold rpg's when I was hoping Mage 1e was released (the golden days).

My problem was that it hinted you, as an operative, would end up learning that SLA was a terrible institution and coming to oppose it. But there were no systems to institute that. You just worked for big bad SLA and...that's it.

Never heard of it. Do you play corporate officers vying for control of the company?

Quote from: Biscuitician;982316It is, i used to own the 1e. Bought it from Virgin back when they sold rpg's when I was hoping Mage 1e was released (the golden days).

My problem was that it hinted you, as an operative, would end up learning that SLA was a terrible institution and coming to oppose it. But there were no systems to institute that. You just worked for big bad SLA and...that's it.

The setting is one of the best around in terms of originality. I loved the futuristic ultraviolet horror techno flavor. I think I'd say the same though, that it has a cult fan base, a big one at that.

Buuuut... The game is broken as hell. The mechanics are not great at all... And as you pointed out, there is NO WAY of fighting Mister Slayer as written in the book. The other option is to play as a sponsored contract killer in televised games - I found this a bit boring and repetitive. Basically The Running Man.

The way we played it, was taking different BPN jobs for SLA from killing serial killers, cults and bug hunts in CS-1. We'd also, investigate the true nature of the SLA corp conspiracy, but you couldn't do shit about it really.

Still one of the most evocative settings around imo. But a new version is badly badly needed.

Quote from: Dumarest;982329Never heard of it. Do you play corporate officers vying for control of the company?

Generally no, you play 'operatives' who are corporate mercenaries. You get jobs from the company to troubleshoot in a suitably violent way. It's meant to be sci fi urban horror. SLA is a massive corporation that controls (almost) everything and has a lot of secrets. But you wont' ever learn them, and if you do, you won't get to do jack shit about them because SLA is a massive corporation that controls (almost) everything. And the game isn't really structured for much beyond the missions.

That said it is quite stylish in places. You can also play drugged up Scotsmen (not actual Scotsmen) called Frothers.

Quote from: The Exploited.;982338The setting is one of the best around in terms of originality. I loved the futuristic ultraviolet horror techno flavor. I think I'd say the same though, that it has a cult fan base, a big one at that.

Buuuut... The game is broken as hell. The mechanics are not great at all... And as you pointed out, there is NO WAY of fighting Mister Slayer as written in the book. The other option is to play as a sponsored contract killer in televised games - I found this a bit boring and repetitive. Basically The Running Man.

The way we played it, was taking different BPN jobs for SLA from killing serial killers, cults and bug hunts in CS-1. We'd also, investigate the true nature of the SLA corp conspiracy, but you couldn't do shit about it really.

Still one of the most evocative settings around imo. But a new version is badly badly needed.

How difficult would it be to port into a different system?

It was popular in the UK because it was a British game, Scottish in fact, and in the early 1990s there weren't that many UK RPG companies around. Games Workshop had just pulled away from any interest in roleplaying games and everybody was thinking that the hobby was in decline.

The game world of SLA Industries is similar to the World of Darkness games of the time ("World of Progress") in that it was dark, violent and moody, with a load of backstory and a lot of art in it. The game system isn't special, but was no different to the bulk of game systems around at the time, in this respect.

When was this game published? I have a huge lacuna in my gaming knowledge spanning circa 1993 to 2003 when I barely played at all, let alone kept up with goings on in the RPG industry.

Quote from: Nexus;982353How difficult would it be to port into a different system?

  Easy if I remember correctly.  I do not remember any way crazy game mechanics.  I just remember laughing at the idea of the equivalent of a go-pro operatives fighting monsters, mutants, insurgents and everything else while they were being sponsored by weapons companies as they brandished their corporate gear and eventually had to use melee due to the absurdly expensive ammo (manipulated by SLA to make operatives have to get into bloody melee battles on missions unless they were extremely wealthy).

Quote from: Dumarest;982360When was this game published? I have a huge lacuna in my gaming knowledge spanning circa 1993 to 2003 when I barely played at all, let alone kept up with goings on in the RPG industry.

About 1993, I think.

The mechanics were simple, more or less a stat+skill roll under on 2d10 as I recall.  The not-psychic-powers were a little funky, but also completely understandable.  

Not having a system to 'go rogue' is not a problem in the game, but an artifact of the mindset of modern gamers, who seem to need rules for every subsystem.  Sure, back then you had Underground, which DID have rules for fighting 'the man' systemically, but SLA Industries was more like a really twisted Cyberpunk... crossed with Brazil.

If you want to 'Fight the Man', then fucking fight him, and let the chips fall where they may.  Unkillable Demigod NPCs be damned.

Quote from: oggsmash;982361Easy if I remember correctly.  I do not remember any way crazy game mechanics.  .

Cool, I've had the pdf sitting on my hardrive forever (picked it up cheap and promptly forgot about it) without taking a look at it. This and some other discussions have gotten me curious again.

Quote from: Spike;982397The mechanics were simple, more or less a stat+skill roll under on 2d10 as I recall.  The not-psychic-powers were a little funky, but also completely understandable.  

The core mechanic was simple enough, but the sub systems were dominated by combat (as most games were) and fiddly adjustments to attack rolls etc. It had a load of needless tables, an overlong list of skills and lots of stipulations to remember in play.