History TabletopGame / Twilight2000

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Creator/FreeLeaguePublishing launched a Website/{{Kickstarter}} campaign [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1192053011/twilight-2000-roleplaying-in-the-wwiii-that-never-was in 2020 for an new edition of the classic game]]. They partnered with Amargosa Press who worked on the 4th editions of ''TabletopGame/DarkConspiracy'', Polish publisher Black Monk Games to create the parts of the game set in Poland, and Far Future Enterprises who published the 5th edition of ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}''.

The second edition of the game also became [=GDW's=] in-house rules set, and was re-used with some modifications for the ''New Era'' edition of ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' and the ''TabletopGame/DarkConspiracy'' game. Version 2.2, which refined the rules even further, was the final version of the game released by GDW.

* AcronymAndAbbreviationOverload: In keeping with the game's military tone, there are a lot of abbreviations used in the rules.

The timeline in Version 2.2 (released in 1993) presented the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheUSSR 1991 Soviet coup attempt]] as having been successful, thus preserving the Soviet Union and the UsefulNotes/WarsawPact for the rest of the timeline leading up to and into the war.

The timeline in Version 2.2 (released in 1993) presented the [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheUSSR 1991 Soviet coup attempt]] as having been successful, thus preserving the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact for the rest of the timeline leading up to and into the war.

Suffered massively from FailedFutureForecast, with the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar invalidating the time line. The Second Edition (released in 1990) featured [[AlternateTimeline a new timeline]]. The new timeline didn't prove popular, especially in Germany, since whereas NATO launching a land invasion of Poland made some kind of sense when the latter was part of CommieLand, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything the new timeline basically had Germany starting WWIII by invading Poland.]] This led some players to [[FanonDisContinuity disregard it]] and use the original timeline, treating the whole thing as an exercise in AlternateHistory.

The game centered around military characters, with the set-up in the first boxed set involving the last survivors of a US military division in UsefulNotes/{{Poland}}. The first few published adventures let the players journey through Poland and finally to the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates, where they become involved with a conflict between the military and civilian governments of the shattered U.S. and the fanatical New America group. Supplements were also provided for playing in the Middle East or Britain. A popular trilogy of adventures also involved the last few nuclear submarines.

The game centered around military characters, with the set-up in the first boxed set involving the last survivors of a US military division in UsefulNotes/{{Poland}}. The first few published adventures let the players journey through Poland and finally to the U.S., where they become involved with a conflict between the military and civilian governments of the shattered U.S. and the fanatical New America group. Supplements were also provided for playing in the Middle East or Britain. A popular trilogy of adventures also involved the last few nuclear submarines.

The game centered around military characters, with the set-up in the first boxed set involving the last survivors of a US military division in Poland. The first few published adventures let the players journey through Poland and finally to the U.S., where they become involved with a conflict between the military and civilian governments of the shattered U.S. and the fanatical New America group. Supplements were also provided for playing in the Middle East or Britain. A popular trilogy of adventures also involved the last few nuclear submarines.

''Twilight: 2000'' is a TabletopRPG first produced by Creator/GameDesignersWorkshop (GDW) in 1984, and set in the aftermath of WorldWarIII (which took place in the [[TheNineties late 1990s]] in that universe) and popular during the 1980s. Still played today, though- RPOL has a number of games in the setting.

''Twilight: 2000'' is a TabletopRPG first produced by Creator/GameDesignersWorkshop (GDW) in 1984 set in the aftermath of WorldWarIII (which took place in the late 1990s in that universe) and popular during the 1980s. Still played today, though- RPOL has a number of games in the setting.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Not be confused]] with ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', with which it probably doesn't have a large crossover demographic. Though a crossover fic between the two would be [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments hilarious]], confusing the two is one of the Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Military Experience and Time In Combat translate to the military rank a character has at the game's start. The way the character generation rules are structured, however, also means that characters with low combat experience have higher attributes and vice versa.

* RareGuns: The H&K G11 is the standard German assault rifle, as was the plan at the time the first edition came out. (In the real world, German reunification and the high cost of the gun led to it being shelved.) As its ammunition is caseless, and therefore cannot be reloaded from spent brass, G11 ammunition is extremely rare even though the weapon itself is very common.

* AlternateTimeline: More recent versions of the game explicitly said that [[WorldWarThree the Twilight War]] and the events leading up to it are this.

Suffered massively from TheGreatPoliticsMessUp, with the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar invalidating the time line. The Second Edition (released in 1990) featured [[AlternateTimeline a new timeline]]. The new timeline didn't prove popular, especially in Germany, since whereas NATO launching a land invasion of Poland made some kind of sense when the latter was part of CommieLand, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything the new timeline basically had Germany starting WWIII by invading Poland.]] This led some players to [[FanonDisContinuity disregard it]] and use the original timeline, treating the whole thing as an exercise in AlternateHistory.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: With only a limited amount of open-source files (In particular Soviet and other Warsaw Pact forces). Various military inaccuracies slip in with regards to large scale orders of battle. Both the ''2013'' and various fan-made re-editions fix it to a degree, since far more data was became accessible over the years. This in particular covers the state of affairs in the Eastern Block and its militaries [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp once the Curtain went down]].

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: A major impact on the game, forcing the major timeline revisions between editions. It also impacted ''Merc 2000'', released as UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar was going on.
** Interestingly, stuff predicted by the timelines included Germany reunifying (first edition has it as the trigger for the war), the split of Czechoslovakia (''Merc 2000'', although it involves a civil war) and Kosovo's independence.

* UnexpectedSuccessor: Taken to the extreme. After the President and Vice President died in the nuclear exchange, the Speaker of the House was sworn in as acting president. Then he had a nervous breakdown and resigned. His successor, the Secretary of State, died of a heart attack from the stress. Her successor committed suicide. Eventually they literally run out of people who can legally be sworn in so the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs declares himself dictator, [[EmergencyAuthority based upon the orders given to him by the original President just before the nukes hit]], which is how [=MilGov=] came about.