Line #66 TabletopGame/SLAIndustries


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4	''SLA Industries'' (pronounced "SLAY Industries") is a TabletopRPG originally published in the early 1990s by [[UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} Glaswegian]] studio Nightfall Games. It's set in the World of Progress, a horrific {{Dystopia}} governed by {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s (the eponymous SLA Industries) under the control of Mr. Slayer, an immortal plutocrat with a grand plan.
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6	The game follows the exploits of SLA Operatives, highly-trained corporate troubleshooters that the company uses for everything from quashing internal subversion to clearing mutant pigs out of the sewers. Their principal area of operation is the company's capital of Mort Central, an urban jungle the size of Eurasia, rain-soaked home to a churning mass of serial killers, terrorists, human traffickers, psychotic war veterans, killer cyborgs, cannibals, mutants, [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs cannibal mutants]], and the aforementioned pigs.
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8	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 was published in January 2021 (with the help of Kickstarter).
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10	In tone, ''SLA Industries'' lies somewhere between ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Kult}}''. Satirical treatment of consumerism, media glamorization of violence, and corporate bureaucracy coexists with brooding horror of various kinds, and the complex production history of the game has given it a variety of conflicting styles. A SLA GameMaster will typically mash these together with enthusiasm, creating a unique variation of the game world.
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12	----
13	!!This tabletop RPG provides examples of:
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15	* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: So absurdly spacious (or perhaps just covering so vast an area), in fact, that low-level Operatives are assigned to patrol it for mutant pigs, serial killers, and other vermin.
16	* AllJustADream: [[spoiler: Subverted. According to the SLA Industries Writers' Bible (also known as "The Truth" document), the World of Progress began within the mind of a mentally-ill British man named Brent Walker. Key characters in the setting represent facets of his personality, and certain events correspond to major points in his life. Mr. Slayer himself is the personification of the voice that was in Walker's head, while Bitterness is the [[GodOfEvil godlike]] remnants of Walker's soul after Slayer "betrayed" him. Thing is, Earth itself is ''also'' a dream - or was - as was every other plan of existence in the [[TheMultiverse Inner Abyss]]; some sapient beings, called Builders from each universe are inborn with the power to use their life experiences to dream a new reality, or Territory, into being, with their creation being [[CosmicRetcon retroactively]] finalized with their death. As Walker died, the World of Progress became real - but ''deeply'' flawed due to how absolutely miserable the last years of his life were.]]
17	* AlwaysChaoticEvil:
18	** Conflict Races like [[TheBerserker Krell]], [[MadScientist Ghrosh]], and [[EvilSorcerer Momics]] are kill-on-sight for SLA industries due to the fact each has complete sociopathic disregard for any other species - to an extent that even ''[[PsychopathicManchild Wrathien]]'' find appalling.
19	** Aside from the Conflict Aliens, the cannibal families, Scavs, and Ex-War Criminals can also be trusted to attack SLA Operatives without hesitation.
20	** Averted with Carriens and Manchines. Most people (including most SLA Operatives) ''believe'' both are always chaotic evil, but SLA Industries has managed to [[HeelFaceTurn turn the occasional Carrien or Manchine into a viable Operative]].
21	* AndIMustScream: How many Manchines feel about their existence, as their brains are generally looted from human victims and then "wiped" before being placed in a Manchine chassis. Sometimes the wiping is imperfect, and the Manchine ends up begging its former squad to kill it (even as it tries to rend them limb from limb). Sometimes the wiping is botched so badly that Manchine [[TomatoInTheMirror forgets that it is no longer human]].
22	* AristocratsAreEvil: SLA Industries' new "Virtue squads" are made up of either these or [[LightIsNotGood profane thugs in angelically styled armor.]]
23	* ArmorPoints: Every armor has not only a protective value that blocks damage, but hit points of its own (measuring how much punishment the armor can take before it falls apart). Similarly, every weapon has an "armor damage" value (measuring how much a hit from the weapon tears up a target's armor). As a result, having your armor disintegrate is one threat in a particularly long mission.
24	* 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-derided "Blocker" Body armor can make a difference.
25	* ArtificialHuman: Angel, and the original intent behind Stormers in general.
26	* AxCrazy: Too many examples to count, but the award for ''most'' AxCrazy arguably goes to the Ex-War Criminals, who return from tours of duty on a War World with several fewer marbles than they deployed with. Upon arrival, the Ex-War Criminal may make a token effort to lead a civilian life in Mort City, but their epic PTSD and combat drug addictions inevitably make this impossible, at which point they will abscond into the Cannibal Sectors and begin a leisurely campaign of murderous terror. And just because SLA ''cares'', the company air-drops war equipment into Cannibal Sector areas that Ex-War Criminals are known to infest, so these psychopaths can maraud with all their (terrifyingly powerful) old gear!
27	* {{BFS}}: And Axe, and Club, and Scythe, and Chainsaw....
28	* BioAugmentation: While cybernetics were once fashionable on Mort, the new and better technology are vat-grown limbs and organs for medical, combat, and aesthetic purposes.
29	* BioPunk: As above. Some Operatives can take this to extreme levels, and Stormers in particular thrive on it. Ghrosh are masters of it.
30	* BlackAndGrayMorality:
31	** In the first edition, Operatives -- the group to which the player characters belong -- are generally depicted as arrogant bullies or worse, but this was downplayed in second edition, which took steps to humanize Operatives (or at least emphasize that there are consequences for abusing their authority).
32	** In all editions, SLA Industries themselves are depicted as sinister, domineering, and just plain ''irresponsible'' to a degree that would do any MegaCorp proud. To be fair, though, SLA's -- and the players' -- enemies are even worse.
33	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The second edition plays up this angle for the Scavs. As a species, they care nothing about comfort or glamor or wealth or entertainment or morality, only propagating their species as a whole, and no holds are barred when defeating an obstacle or enemy to that goal. Like everything else in the Cannibal Sectors, they'll still want to kill you, take your stuff, and probably eat your corpse, but in their case, it's NothingPersonal.
34	* BlandNameProduct: On Mort you can buy a Klippo lighter ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zippo Zippo]] lighters) and go to Dunkem Donuts ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkin%27_Donuts Dunkin Donuts]]).
35	* BloodSport: The premier sporting league in the World of Progress is the Contract Circuit: televised gladiatorial violence between contestants who, in their day jobs, work as hired killers.
36	* BreakableWeapons: Not weapons but ''armor''. Both editions of the game prominently feature rules for armor being damaged as it absorbs attacks. This both hurts and helps players, as on one hand, even if your squad's weapons are too weak to punch through an enemy's armor, you can (in theory) keep hitting them until their armor disintegrates from all the punishment. On the other hand, repairing your ''own'' armor between missions can be a major cash drain.
37	* CameBackWrong: Delia the Destroyer and anyone else who undergoes the L.A.D. process. [[spoiler:Also, according to The Truth, Stormers]]
38	* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Dream Entities]] have abilities that they believe they should have. Aethermen [[ExploitedTrope take advantage of this]] with the FOW staffs, which use all the sparking electricity as a way of spooking dumber Dream Entities into believing it will hurt them worse, so it does. [[spoiler: In fact, physics in general actually work across the World of Progress is that people believe it works, because everything and everyone is a Dream Entity - so's Earth, but the World of Progress' internal logic is so broken it needs mass belief to work at all.]]
39	* ChainsawGood: Including the Chain''axe'', a weapon much beloved among Mort's various psychopaths.
40	* ClonesArePeopleToo: A small percentage of Stormers. The remaining majority are [[ExpendableClone Expendable Clones]] used as shock troops on War Worlds.
41	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: SLA Industries has this trope written all over it.
42	* CrapsackWorld: Mostly driven by the RuleOfScary and black comedy.
43	* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: The Manchines, human brains in mechanical bodies who went AxCrazy shortly after SLA stopped maintaining them.
44	* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: The setting undoubtably took inspiration from ''Film/BladeRunner''. It ''never'' stops raining on planet Mort. Fittingly, the rain itself reflects 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]].
45	* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Sort of. Operatives who are concerned about their prospects for posthumous career advancement can invest in a 'Life After Death' account, which entitles them to be picked up and resurrected via cutting-edge medical techniques in the event that they should die on the job. There are caveats, however: aside from the expense, a successful LAD operation allows a four-minute window between cessation of brain activity and arrival on the operating table, after which revival is impossible. Although a ''really fast'' evac helicopter is dispatched at the moment an Operative is critically injured, a customer who is unlucky enough to die in Lower Downtown, the Cannibal Sectors, or any similarly inaccessible or dangerous area cannot rely on timely evacuation. Refunds are not given in such cases. Additionally, Karma Division does not accept liability for any side-effects experienced as a result of the LAD process.
46	* DeathWorld:
47	** The planet Mort is almost completely uninhabitable, and requires 'Atmosphere Generators' -- each the size of a city -- in order to maintain some semblance of a biosphere (and, coincidentally, keep the gravity in check). While Mort ''does'' have areas that are safe and even nice (like the Uptown region of Mort Central), huge swathes of Mort Central itself are abandoned by civilized society, and have evolved into thriving ecospheres of giant insects, cannibals, mutants, and ''raw malevolence''.
48	** 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. On the worst War Worlds, this can drop to just ''twenty minutes''.
49	** White Earth, the domain of [[GodIsEvil Bitterness]] and its thralls, makes even the War Worlds seem inviting.
50	* DoNotAdjustYourSet: A preferred tactic of SLA's rival company [=DarkNight=].
51	* DirtyCoward: Ghorsh are often called Root Dogs due to this; their hands resemble roots, their faces are doglike and they are completely self-interested weenies who [[TheBully gleefully torment other species with their genetically engineered monsters for pleasure]], but in the face of actual danger promptly panic and [[VillainsWantMercy start gibbering out potential deals for their own lives]] - in effect, being "cowardly mongrel dogs."
52	* 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 addiction and withdrawal a punishing experience, with long-term use cutting a character's life-span drastically to about 3-5 years.
53	* {{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 85% of the population is on welfare.
54	* EvenEvilHasStandards: SLA Industries is an evil MegaCorp that wages endless wars, strips entire planets barren of life and resources, enslaves other planets to be nothing more than cogs in their hyper-capitalist machine, has genocided more than one sapient species, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking endlessly glamorizes ultraviolence and mindless consumption]], but the one thing SLA never tolerates is the Skin Trade (trafficking humans and aliens for sexual enslavement).
55	* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Existence in the Cannibal Sectors is basically this. Every form of life there is cannibalistic, psychotic, hostile to SLA on principle, super-poisonous, or otherwise naturally inclined to prey upon anything and everything but its own kind (and in the Cannibals' case, even their own kind). And if the carnivorous pigs, Carrien packs, Cannibal clans, Ex-War Criminals, Scavs, [=DarkNight=] operatives, Manchines, Dream entities, or sector mutants don't kill you, then the radiation, toxic rain, rampant disease, flash floods, bullet-like killing hail, industrial chemical hazards, or crumbling infrastructure might.
56	* EvilVersusEvil: As noted above, there is very little that SLA Industries will not do in the name of profit or dominance, but their enemies -- [=DarkNight=], Thresher, and White Earth -- are all even worse.
57	* EvilVersusOblivion: The greatest enemy of SLA Industries is Bitterness/White Earth. The former wants to conquer and control everything. The latter wants to end the World of Progress altogether.
58	* FantasticDrug: Both SLA Industries and [=DarkNight=] have flooded Mort with a wide variety of drugs for combat, healing, social skills, concentration, and more. Unfortunately for players, the DrugsAreBad trope is in full effect here. Almost all of SLA's drugs are addictive and, in the long term, ruinous. [=DarkNight=]'s drugs (as they are a terrorist organization that only want to cause as much chaos on Mort as possible) are ''even worse''.
59	* FantasticRacism: Often arises as a low-level political issue. Humans are the dominant species. The psionic Ebon, reptilian Shaktar, and feline Wraithen constitute racial minorities outside their respective homeworlds. Ebon, in particular, are loathed and feared for their reality-warping abilities.
60	* GaiasLament: Mort was reduced centuries ago to a barren, polluted wasteland with only sporadic islands of civilization outside the capital city of Mort Central. The Cannibal Sectors around Mort Central are even worse.
61	* GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke: Used by SLA Industries with Stormers, on their rivals. Scavs, 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 living weapons.
62	* GodIsEvil: [[spoiler: Bitterness, AKA Brent Walker, the true creator of the World of Progress, deposed by Mr. Slayer, has a homeworld that makes Mort seem downright pleasant. He has also started The Shi'An cult on Mort, capitalizing on the citizens' despair, where initiates wring the blood out of the skins of the dead, commit sacrifices of loved ones, and other increasingly debased and Gorn-level rituals to attain BloodMagic power.]]
63	* GoodThingYouCanHeal: Stormers, although most races get access to this if they use a particular medical drug from one of the supplements.
64	* HandCannon, {{BFG}}: Few firearms in the game do ''not'' fall into either of these categories, although fashions change rapidly; guns on Mort are aspirational items in the way that cars are in Real Time. Ironically, although only Operatives are licensed to use 'serious' firearms, their use by same is frowned upon (and taxed) by the company, since exotic melee weapons look better on TV.
65	* HeavilyArmoredMook: Thresher's terrorists, who are known for their armored powersuits.
66	* HonourBeforeReason: A common perception of Shaktar. In the second edition, NoOneGetsLeftBehind is a rule that Shaktar Operatives ''cannot'' violate.
67	* HopelessWar: SLA Industries has been at war with Dark Night and Thresher for centuries [[ForeverWar with no hint that it will ever end]], and the War Worlds are whole planets that have been consumed by conflict between two (or all three) of the powers. It's explicitly mentioned that whenever one War World is finally conquered (or abandoned), you can rest assured that another will fall into the spotlight. In the second edition, White Earth and its demons emerged as another player in the conflict, making the World of Progress [[SarcasmMode even better]].
68	* HumanAliens: The Ebon, and their malevolent siblings, the Brain Wasters. Externally, they look almost human if you ignore the glowing eyes. Biologically, they're distinct from humanity, and only Ebon/Brain Wasters are able to use the Ebb, which grants them Ultimate Cosmic Power at the expense of emotional instability and eventual transformation into a [[OneWingedAngel Necanthrope]].
69	* HumansAreBastards: So is almost everyone else, admittedly, but humans are by far the most successful at it. [[DownplayedTrope That still marks them as massively better than the Conflict Aliens]].
70	* 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 species to humans. They regard pharmacological excess as a cultural right, and regularly consume doses of recreational and combat drugs that would kill an ordinary human.
71	* ImAHumanitarian: Many of the inhabitants/vermin of Mort's [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Cannibal Sectors]].
72	* 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 ruthlessly stripped of all resources]].
73	* InitiationCeremony: The Ebons and Brain Wasters get the "disturbingly horrific" version when they grow powerful enough to evolve into Necanthropes. The first step is to be taken by the Necanthrope society to an isolated area and ''killed''. The prospective Necanthrope then has to face the challenge of [[MindRape the White]] in order to be reborn as a Necanthrope.
74	* InterserviceRivalry: A common occurrence among many of SLA Industries' divisions, and exactly the way Mr. Slayer likes it.
75	* JustLikeMakingLove: How one contract killer (think the Stalkers from ''Film/TheRunningMan'') describes his work:
76	-->'''Glenn "Carnage" Berry''': "It's like sex. The first few times are the biggest thrill in the world, then you stop for some reason and you miss it a hundred times worse than when you never did it. Then you start doing it regularly, and it becomes and part of your everyday life... I mean, you look forward to it, and it's good, but it's not the same as when you first started. Then you find you are doing it less and less until one day it's really good because you did something different. Then for a few years you look for the different thing. Then you look at yourself one day and [[CrossesTheLineTwice you're wearing a strange costume and a weird mask and chains and things...]]"
77	* LayeredMetropolis: Mort Central, the setting of most campaigns, actually manages to hold three varieties. First, the city [[{{Undercity}} is built on top of the ruins of a previous city that is now mostly underground]], which the citizens of Mort don't like to talk about. Understandable, given that it's full of decaying infrastructure, carnivorous pigs, carriens, human psychopaths, and [[NightmareFuel horrifying monsters]], men in PoweredArmor, terrorists, and things that the standard police rifle is less effective against than a BB gun... [[CrapsackWorld because, ironically enough, it IS a]] [[MagneticWeapons gauss]] BB gun. Second, there's Downtown, a warren of walkways, streets, and buildings extending deep underground that's similar to the Kowloon Walled City. Third, there's also several skyways full of shops high above the urban sprawl of the city.
78	* 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, burst fire 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.
79	* LivingWeapon: Though not weapons, the deathsuits of Ebons and Brainwasters are alive and eventually gain sentience (of a sort). The gore cannons of Necanthropes are a more literal example of this trope.
80	* {{Magitek}}: Ebon powers are augmented by "Science Friction" devices, made from raw Ebb energy coerced into a material form.
81	* MadeOfPlasticine: Vevaphons, in a literal sense.
82	* MarsNeedsWomen: A particularly dark aspect of the Scavs in second edition is that they are becoming less able to reproduce with each other, so they have begun using human women as disposable breeding stock, mostly buying them from Skin Traders. At times, the latter are [[EvenEvilHasStandards so creeped out by the Scavs]] that despite the massive profits, they're ending up at MyGodWhatHaveIDone or even being DrivenToSuicide.
83	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The Shaktar believe in "possessed weapons" of various grades, empowered (or cursed) by the soul of the weapon's former wielder (or even someone that the weapon slew). However, a possessed weapon's special effects go only as far as causing weird dreams from the soul's life and letting a Shaktar wielder reroll attack dice. Do these weapons have any real power? Or are the dreams just the Shaktar's imagination and the reroll comes only from their increased confidence in wielding a supposedly "special" weapon? The text leaves it ambiguous.
84	* MeaningfulName: Mort, the capital world of SLA Industries. "Mort" is the Latin root word for "death", and indeed the plant was long ago reduced to a polluted wasteland with little life outside its cities.
85	* MegaCity: Mort City is the biggest, though planet Mort's atmosphere breeds them out of necessity.
86	* MegaCorp: The three interstellar "Suppressor Powers" of the galaxy: SLA Industries, [=DarkNight=], and Thresher. SLA Industries has controlled most of the galaxy for centuries, but [=DarkNight=] and Thresher both are large enough to threaten SLA, even to the point of conducting terrorist operations on SLA's capital world, Mort.
87	* MindRape: Involved in several of the Ebons' abilities, heavily implied in a description of the implantation process for Finance Chips, the implied M.O. few a number of the [=NPCs=] on Players and each other, and just one of the tools used to create Halloween Jack.
88	* MindScrew: Arguably the intended way to run the game.
89	* MultiversalConqueror: [[spoiler:Bitterness' ultimate goal is to consume the World of Progress and use its power to travel to other Territories, in particular Earth, and torture them for his mistreatment as Brent Walker.]]
90	* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Mr. Slayer, Intruder, Senti, Halloween Jack, and Digger have all been depicted surviving attacks that would kill mortal humans countless times over. Stigmartyr agents also approach this trope's level.
91	* OneNationUnderCopyright: In the World of Progress, SLA Industries (and its subsidiaries) are the only legal company, and SLA fills in for [[PrivatelyOwnedSociety the government, the military, law enforcement, civil services, and everything else]].
92	* OneWingedAngel: Necanthropes, who are powerful and range from "inhumanly beautiful" to "inhumanly grotesque". Few have any respect for humans (or any other mortal, for that matter).
93	* OurDemonsAreDifferent:
94	** Dream Entities are strange beings from outside reality who gestate into reality in places where the fabric of reality is damaged, feeding on the fears and beliefs of Mort's citizens to become [[OurMonstersAreWeird oddball]] monsters out of nightmare with the ultimate goal of becoming a true species that is fully part of the universe (the Conflict Aliens known as the Derro are the first known example of a full integration, and domesticate their half-real brethren to [[HostileTerraforming turn Mort into an ideal environment for their newborn people]]). They also spread a memetic infection called The Grey that causes people to grow so depressed they disintegrate. [[spoiler:In truth, [[ArcWords we are all Dream Entities]]; everything and everyone in the known multiverse was spun out of dream and fertile nonexistence by psychics called Builders - including other Builders - but [[GodOfEvil Bitterness]] took advantage of the half-born nature of the World of Progress to introduce a factor of reality that said that nightmares within it can create monsters embodying those nightmares, hence official Dream Entities; The Grey is effectively breaking down a person's belief that they actually exist or should exist, [[YourMindMakesItEReal and using that to unmake them]]; Aethermen are often trained in psychology to help convince Grey infected they should exist and thus disproof The Grey into curing itself.]]
95	** Atrocities from White Earth called by Shi'An BloodMagic, hostile inhabitants of a desert DeathWorld that seem to be [[OutsideGenreFoe based in magic and medieval technology at best]]. [[spoiler:They are the direct creations and agents of Bitterness in his war on Mr. Slayer.]]
96	* PoweredArmor: Plenty of these.
97	* PowerFist: More than one example, including the "Mutilator Fist".
98	* PrivateMilitaryContractor: SLA Industries ''began'' as one of these, until most of the previous races of the galaxy became so dependent on SLA's weaponry and mercenaries that Mr. Slayer was able to overthrow them practically overnight.
99	* ProphetEyes: The eyes of Ebons and Brain Wasters are this.
100	* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The Shaktar, eight-foot dreadlocked lizards who adhere to a samurai-esque code of honour.
101	* ReincarnateInAnotherWorld: [[spoiler:Mr. Slayer/Intruder/Bitterness (who were all aspects of an Earth human named Brent Walker)... and Senti.]]
102	* ReligionOfEvil: The Shi'An have exceedingly Gorn-level human sacrifices and BloodMagic galore. Second edition notes that they probably wouldn't have gotten off the ground were it not for the fact that the power they offer is real.
103	* ResistanceAsPlanned: On Mort, [=DarkNight=] has always presented itself as the heroic resistance to SLA's tyranny. In the first edition, the Truth document revealed that [=DarkNight=] itself was created by SLA to keep track of subversives in the latter's own population, a fact known to almost no one but the respective leaders of both companies. However, the second edition discards any mention of this, and [=DarkNight=] is a 100% genuine enemy of SLA Industries.
104	* RetCon: Over the years, ''SLA Industries'' has seen a bit more than its share of retconning.
105	** The "Truth" document - the original explanation behind the origin and various mysteries of the World of Progress - was declared non-canon by the developers before the first ''Cannibal Sector 1'' sourcebook.
106	** Speaking of Cannibal Sector 1, ''that'' part of the setting (and its related factions) was also massively revamped with the [=CS1=] miniatures game (which threw out the earlier [=CS1=] sourcebook and presented a new take on the region). The area of Cannibal Sector 1 went from twice the size of the continental US to roughly the size of New Jersey, the Carriens went from [[spoiler: a secret SLA experiment that [[GoneHorriblyRight Went Horribly Right]] to the remnants of Mort's native race that SLA wrecked shortly after colonizing the planet]], the Shivers have a much larger presence in the sector, the Cannibals are now a stronger/tougher mutant subspecies of humanity (and have a new religion), the Scavs went from [[spoiler: a secret SLA experiment that [[GoneHorriblyRight Went Horribly Right]] to a renegade SLA geneticist's experiment that [[GoneHorriblyRight Went Horribly Right]]]], "Dream" supernatural entities are now a common threat in many parts of the sector, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking there is no longer a prominent super-polluted river]].
107	** Mort City itself got reduced in size, and is merely the largest settlement among several on the planet.
108	** [[spoiler:As of 2e, certain aspects of "The Truth" seem to have been added back to the continuity.]]
109	* RockBeatsLaser: The 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 malleable the reality of the World Of Progress actually is - they are directly blessed by Bitterness and as a result are literally more real than the rest of the universe, as with most beings of White Earth.]]
110	* SerialKiller: And how! This may be the only setting where the phrase "serial killer epidemic" could be (and has been) used with a straight face. SLA Industries doesn't help, as they actively pitch marketing deals to particularly showy killers, so those already of a homicidal persuasion see it as a potential celebrity job.
111	* SexSlave: The Skin Trade is the epitome of this, snatching 50-70 children (and others) daily.
112	* ShapeShifterBaggage: Averted. Vevaphons cannot gain or lose mass through shape shifting, and even altering their form in extreme ways can lead to permanent injury.
113	* [[ShoutOut/TabletopGames Shout Out]]: The Shaktar race are honorable, bipedal humanoid warriors with dreadlocks and bizarre mandible-like lips. In other words, they're {{Franchise/Predator}}s with tails.
114	* SingleBiomePlanet: The home planet of the Wraithen is an Ice Planet. Other Wraithen-controlled planets are Ice Planets as well. Mort (and many other industrial worlds) are also technically single biome planets, having been looted until they're nothing but ecologically-devastated wastelands.
115	* SinisterScythe: DPB manufactures the Flick-Scythe, a staff with an extendable scythe blade that oscillates for extra damage.
116	* [[SnuffFilm Snuff TV]]: The public's main source of entertainment, with several shows and channels dedicated to all sorts of uncensored gore, and possibly a quite lucrative income source for Operatives.
117	* TheSociopath: While serial killers and other psychopaths are common on Mort, the Scavs are an entire species of sociopaths, as they see other beings only as obstacles to destroy or resources to be consumed (and then thrown away), and seem to have no emotions other than rage.
118	* SuperSoldier: A variety of vat-grown 'Stormers' are the SLA's foremost contribution to the science of warfare; later models have also been pressed into service in heavy industry, popular entertainment, and prostitution. The original '313' model, as well as some later combat variations and a newer, shapeshifting design, are available as player characters.
119	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill : Several applicants, among them Slayer and Bitterness (obviously), Sigmartyr, Thresher, Halloween Jack, Intruder and the Kilneck...
120	* TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow: "The Truth", which is the code-name for SLA's long-running metaplot that ultimately explains everything that has (and occasionally has not...) happened in the World of Progress. For bonus points, characters who learned the Truth without proper training could accidentally erase themselves from reality.
121	** Arguably subverted, in that The Truth ''has'' been revealed to the playing public after Nightfall Games admitted that they would never get around to publishing ''SLA Industries'' as they would have liked. It's complicated, to say the least, and no longer canon under the new developers, but it still applies to characters and settings in the older books.
122	*** Basically, it revolves around a Gnostic view of the setting, ten years before ''The Matrix'' popularized the topic. (But then, ScienceFiction has dabbled in Gnosticism before.)
123	* TokenGoodTeammate: The Shaktar, Ebon, Aethermen, and particularly Neophron are intended as this, being more upbeat, morally firm contrasts to the more morally lax species of the World of Progress.
124	* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: The Manchines, among others. SLA Industries is very good at creating things that go horribly, psychopathically against them.
125	* UsedFuture: From the guns to the architecture, the art style has a lot of grit to it.
126	* VehicleVanish: When an Ebon reaches Formulae Rank 10 he starts seeing Necanthropes watching him from a distance. After a vehicle passes between the Ebon and the Necanthrope watcher and blocks the Ebon's view, the Necanthrope will have disappeared.
127	* {{Vibroweapon}}: Of course.
128	* WasOnceAMan: The current backstory of the monstrous Carriens. They were never ''humans'', but they were the original natives of Mort (then known as Jeth), and they had their own civilization and culture before SLA Industries colonized their world. The Jethians were powerless to stop SLA from looting the planet and destroying their habitats, and ultimately radiation from the company's failed Fission Belt warped the remaining Jethians into the Carriens as they are known today.
129	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: The Ebon, an alien race who use arcane mathematics to set fire to things and make people's heads explode, eventually get called to shed their material bodies and undertake a mysterious spiritual journey, after which they go OneWingedAngel, becoming prey to their darkest hidden urges and turning into horrible monsters. With living shoulder-guns. That shoot MindRape.
130	* WhamLine: From the very end of the second edition Core Rulebook, which doubles as an in-universe example.
131	->''Five words is all it takes. Five words that will shatter any illusions you harbor about our existence. Five words that, once heard, change the universe forever. [...] [[spoiler:[[TomatoInTheMirror We are all Dream Entities]].]]''
132	* AYearAndADay: According to the SLA Industries Writers' Bible, the SLA universe [[spoiler:was created by a person in the Real Time universe who was under the influence of the drug Reathanol. Anyone in the Real Time universe who is under the influence of Reathanol]] can create a new universe under certain circumstances, but they must do so within a year and a day after starting the attempt.
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Context TabletopGame / SLAIndustries