History WretchedHive / TabletopGames

** There's has a region of Sigil, the main city, that is actually called "The Hive". It's one big lawless slum where criminals, the Athar and Xaositects anarchists, the death-worshipping Dustmen, the nihilistic Bleak Cabal and ''demons'' fight for control. Even Sigil's normally formidable Harmonium guard are too afraid to patrol there.

** The ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' setting has a region of Sigil, the main city, that is actually called "The Hive". It's one big lawless slum where criminals, anarchists, death-worshipers, and ''demons'' fight for control. Even Sigil's normally formidable Harmonium guard are too afraid to patrol there.

* In the TabletopGame/{{Planescape}} campaign:
** The worst of Sigil's Wards is actually called the Hive. Few honest people live here, and the only people call it home are the Xaositects, the Bleak Cabal, the Dustmen, and the Athar.
** The Gate Towns to the Lower Planes like Ribcage, Curst, and Plaguemorte tend to be even worse. The towns are in the neutral plane of the Outlands, but they're full of the Fiends and evil mortals whose alignments match the Lower Plane they link to, making the towns only slightly less evil. If they ever get so evil and chaotic/lawful (if applicable) that they actually match the Plane, the whole town slides into the Lower Plane and a new, slightly less evil town will be born to take its place in the Outlands.

** InIn''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'', the city of Stormreach is a city founded by pirates. It's also the main gateway to the continent of Xen'Drik.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}'': large sections of the Inner Sphere are like this, but especially Dustball, Kooken's Pleasure Pit and Solaris VII.

*** As for Kooken's Pleasure Pit, it was set up expressly as a WretchedHive (or at least the major cities, [[WordOfGod official canon]] has it that the remainder of the planet is normal, and ''strictly off-limits to offworlders'' to keep it that way) by the Lyran Government as a way to break the back of a crime syndicate by introducing competition to Dustball. (In game, both KPP and Dustball are essentially Nevada or Amsterdam, writ larger and with the more questionable entertainments accentuated.) The gambit only half-worked... people flocked to Kooken's, but the crime-boss-ruled Dustball is as strong as ever. But Dustball is now property of Clan Jade Falcon who have put an end to the gambling industry on the planet.
* ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]'' naturally has several {{Wretched Hive}}s strewn throughout its various settings. Examples include:
** In ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'', the city of Stormreach is a city founded by pirates. It's also the main gateway to the continent of Xen'Drik.
** [[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Skullport Skullport]] in ''ForgottenRealms''. Multiclassed as a thriving center of smuggling (including slave trade) and therefore has properties of BazaarOfTheBizarre, such as a "TruceZone". That is, sworn enemies don't attack each other noticeably more often than complete strangers.

* A number of places in the Coalition States in ''{{Rifts}}'', but most notably the Chi-Town 'Burbs. One city, Cuidad Juarez, is stated to be "The Mos Eisley Cantina scene, spread out over an entire city". Also, Atlantis.

** Adapted into the [[StarWars Nar Shaddaa]]-esque Nexus VI in the science-fantasy Heaven's Reach Shard.

* In the {{Planescape}} campaign:

* Many of the [[CityInABottle Hive Cities]] of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' are like this from spire to foundation, but the underhives almost always qualify. TabletopGame/{{Necromunda}} is the most prominent example, where the planetary government and military are essentially one sprawling gang that commands the obedience of the next gang below them.
** Most Space Marine chapters recruit from {{Death World}}s where the population HadToBeSharp just to survive childhood. The Imperial Fists chapter recruits from Necromunda.
** The Dark Eldar are a race of AlwaysChaoticEvil [[OurElvesAreBetter space-elves]], and their capital Commorragh fit the trope. The city is ruled by warring kabals and the only semblance of government is the biggest kabal that's powerful enough to boss the others around. Getting killed by a total stranger in broad daylight (well, technically due to its location in the Webway there is no day and night cycle in Commorragh, only perpetual twilight) in the middle of a street is seen as a perfectly normal occurrence. One has to wonder how the Dark Eldar have managed not to kill themselves off yet.
*** Well, that's how it ''used'' to be. It's been {{Retcon}}ned since the new codex so it isn't ''that'' bad, and to address the FridgeLogic produced by the previous depiction. Turns out most violence in Commorragh is formalized via duels, assassinations, gang violence, etc. Kabals rarely go into outright warfare in their own streets, preferring Machiavellian schemes and political manoeuvring to come out on top. As WordOfGod has said, Commorragh just wouldn't be able to function if it was just mindless slaughter all the time. Of course, that doesn't mean it's not a very horrible place to live; it most assuredly '''is'''. Also, it's not really a single city in a conventional sense, but thousands of cities, ports and realms spread all over the Webway, linked together with a vast PortalNetwork. Nearly all of these smaller cities certainly count as examples as well.
-->'''[[WebVideo/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice The Emperor of Mankind]]''': [[AC:If there is one place you do not want to find yourself alone, it is that place. If the galaxy was a run-down town, Commorragh would be the local nightclub-turned-insane asylum.]]

* Maven Haven is the port of call for nearly all Asteroid Belt pirates in {{Rocket Age}} and it shows. The majority of the economy is built around servicing the pirates in [[RedLightDistrict various ways]] and the only law is what the pirate enforcers decide it is at that moment.

* Many of the [[CityInABottle Hive Cities]] of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' are like this from spire to foundation, but the underhives almost always qualify. {{Necromunda}} is the most prominent example, where the planetary government and military are essentially one sprawling gang that commands the obedience of the next gang below them.

* In the {{Planescape}} campaign, the worst of Sigil's Wards is actually called the Hive. Few honest people live here, and the only people call it home are the Xaositects, the Bleak Cabal, the Dustmen, and the Athar.

* The Free State of Orleans in ''TabletopGame/CastleFalkenstein''. It essentially has no central government, since the ShadowDictator, President for Life Aaron Burr, hasn't been seen in public in more than a quarter of a century. The closest thing to a national leader is the Mayor of New Orleans, who runs the underworld and only provides neighborhoods with police protection if they pay him. The economy is based on piracy, gambling, and prostitution, all of which are legal as long as the proprietors pay their licensing fees, and the country is defended from foreign retribution by Marie Laveau and her zombi army.

** {{Berlin}}, from the ''Germany'' sourcebook. Dear God, Berlin! When shadowtalkers attach posts about their favorite cannibal restaurants to the main file, you honestly can't tell if they're joking or not.

*** As for Kooken's Pleasure Pit, it was set up expressly as a WretchedHive (or at least the major cities, [[WordOfGod official canon]] has it that the remainder of the planet is normal, and ''strictly off-limits to offworlders'' to keep it that way) by the Lyran Government as a way to break the back of a crime syndicate by introducing competition to Dustball. (In game, both KPP and Dustball are essentially Nevada or Amsterdam, writ larger and with the more questionable entertainments accentuated.) The gambit only half-worked... people flocked to Kooken's, but the crime-boss-ruled Dustball is as strong as ever.

* Junkyard, built next to the remain of Salt Lake City, from the ''[[{{Deadlands}} Deadlands: Hell on Earth]]'' setting.

* ''{{Battletech}}'': large sections of the Inner Sphere are like this, but especially Dustball, Kooken's Pleasure Pit and Solaris VII.

* ''[[DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]'' naturally has several {{Wretched Hive}}s strewn throughout its various settings. Examples include:
** In ''{{Eberron}}'', the city of Stormreach is a city founded by pirates. It's also the main gateway to the continent of Xen'Drik.

** ''The World of {{Greyhawk}}'' has a few cities like this, most notably the city of Dorakaa in the demon-ruled Empire of Iuz, the city of Molag in the Horned Society, the drow city of Erelhei-Cinlu, and the entirety of the orc- and goblin-ruled Pomarj region.

** The ''{{Planescape}}'' setting has a region of Sigil, the main city, that is actually called "The Hive". It's one big lawless slum where criminals, anarchists, death-worshipers, and ''demons'' fight for control. Even Sigil's normally formidable Harmonium guard are too afraid to patrol there.
** The Drow city of Menzoberranzan in the ''ForgottenRealms''. The populace as a whole is AlwaysChaoticEvil, follow a ReligionOfEvil dedicated to their even more twisted goddess (who enforces their AlwaysChaoticEvil nature), and have ChronicBackstabbingDisorder as their ''[[PlanetOfHats hat]]''. Slavery, corruption, and warfare between various noble houses run rampant in the city. The only reason the Drow haven't managed to kill themselves off with this behavior is because their deity finds them too much fun.

* ''StarDrive'' has Lucullus, a former penal colony where the inmates are RunningTheAsylum. They don't do a very good job of this.

* ''{{Exalted}}'': The city of Nexus, to a tee. "Ah, Nexus, the city of one thousand names!" "Yeah, but only a hundred of them are printable, and only ten of the printable ones are even nice..."

* The cities of the ''{{KULT}}'' RPG. [[spoiler:All cities in Kult are echoes of the One City, and the bigger they get, the more likely that the borders with the One City get thin and tenuous...]]

* The small-press RPG ''FatesWorseThanDeath'' is set in a cyberpunk future where ''Manhattan'' has become the Wretched Hive due to a series of wars, economic disasters, and anyone with a suitable level of income fleeing for the burbclaves. The city is divided between gangs, drug pushers, the wreckage of social movements and subcultures, and a self-replicating serial killer. Despite all this, it's supposed to be an EarnYourHappyEnding game -- how hard will you fight to clean up the mess?
* The island city-state of Al-Amarja, setting of ''OverTheEdge''.

** In ''TempleOfElementalEvil'', the village of Nulb is this. It does however have a small number of decent if not good-aligned characters living there. The player's actions can either [[MultipleEndings destroy it or make it prosper.]]

* Similarly, the major cities of the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' world are much like their ''40k'' counterparts, sans the plumbing. The city of TabletopGame/{{Mordheim}} became so depraved, corrupt, and horrifying that a god threw a comet at it. Then it became a bunch of warped ruins home to a few depraved, corrupt, and horrifying ''mutants'', as well as the mercenary warbands coming from across the realm to loot it.

* Similarly, the major cities of the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' world are much like their ''40k'' counterparts, sans the plumbing. The city of Mordheim became so depraved, corrupt, and horrifying that a god threw a comet at it. Then it became a bunch of warped ruins home to a few depraved, corrupt, and horrifying ''mutants'', as well as the mercenary warbands coming from across the realm to loot it.

* ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'': Scum barges, places where anything goes and you can probably get anything not actually capable of punching through the hull if you know the right person to ask.

** Adapted into the [[StarWars Nar Shaddaa]]-esque Nexus VI in the science-fantasy Heaven's Reach shard.

** [[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Skullport Skullport]] in ''ForgottenRealms''. Multiclassed as a thriving center of smuggling (including slave trade) and therefore has properties of BazaarOfTheBizarre, such as a "TruceZone". That is, sworn enemies don't attack each other noticeably more often than complete strangers.\\
\\
Zhentil Keep, and indeed many of the cities of the Moonsea area, are other notable examples.\\
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Luskan is populated almost entirely by pirates, slavers, and other types of criminals, and their main leaders are totalitarian wizard-dictators who regularly perform horrific experiments on innocent people. They've also willingly aided an ancient evil empire's attempt to conquer the world, knowing full well they would also be subjugated, just because it would give them a chance to attack their rival city, Neverwinter.